Nftnews Today Nadya Tolokonnikova On Web3 Activism

On June 9, 2022, Pussy Riot unfurled a 45-foot, pink banner studying “MATRIARCHY NOW” on the Texas state capitol constructing. This marked the primary of the numerous protests in assist of reproductive rights from the Russian feminist protest and efficiency artwork group.

Most well-known for being jailed in Russia for hooliganism in 2012, the band is now pioneering digital activism. Firstly, with UnicornDAO and now with Proof of Protest, Pussy Riot excels at every thing Web3. Now, Pussy Riot’s founding member, Nadya Tolokonnikova shares how and why activism and NFTs go hand in hand.

After the US Supreme Courtroom overturned Roe v. Wade, UnicornDao, a DAO co-founded by Nadya, has arrange a number of initiatives to assist prime reproductive rights organisations. Essentially the most notable of those initiatives is the LegalAbortion.eth pockets. In essence, that is an Ethereum pockets that enables crypto customers to straight donate to seven main reproductive rights organisations.

This is a vital step as most of those organisations don’t but have ETH addresses. As of now, the supported organisations embody the Centre for Reproductive Rights, Deliberate Parenthood, and Fund Texas Selection, amongst others. 

Who’s Nadya Tolokonnikova?

Nadya (or Nadezhda) Tolokonnikova co-founded the Russian punk band, Pussy Riot, in 2011. Other than this, she can be a efficiency artist, feminist, and a political activist. As we speak, Nadya is spearheading activism within the Web3 area.

In March this 12 months, Nadya, together with a number of crypto OGs, artists, and builders, launched UnicornDAO, a cryptocurrency funding fund. She can be the founding father of UkraineDAO,  a fundraising marketing campaign which raised round $7 million for war-torn Ukraine.

Throughout a Twitter areas session with the Lens Protocol staff, Nadya Tolokonnikova mentioned, “I entered the crypto world early final 12 months, as a result of I wished to steer the crypto neighborhood in the direction of activism and social justice. There are such a lot of socially-conscious crypto individuals who wish to assist and use blockchain know-how, DAOs, and NFTs for an excellent trigger and battle in opposition to injustice.”

What’s UnicornDAO?

Unicorn DAO is a collective that each helps and showcases feminine figuring out, non-binary, and LGBTQ+ artists. They intention to make a secure area for brand new and current NFT artists, specializing in their rules of inclusivity and variety. However, additionally they prefer to have enjoyable too, stating “fishnets, pink plush bondage unicorns and pretend lashes” as one in every of their core values.

“UnicornDAO was based on the mission to redistribute wealth and visibility so as to create equality for women-identified and LGBTQ+ folks,” Nadya Tolokonnikova mentioned. “The DAO goals to diversify web3 by serving to market and share NFTs from feminine, non-binary, and LGBTQ+ artists”.

About Pussy Riot’s Proof of Protest NFT assortment 

Extra just lately, Pussy Riot launched “Proof of Protest”, a restricted version NFT assortment. The gathering was minted completely on Lens Protocol, with all proceeds from the sale going to the LegalAbortion.eth pockets. 

Created in collaboration with artist Ksti Hu, the gathering dropped on July 7 and lasted solely 24 hours. The NFT artwork depicts bottles of feminism and follows on the footstep of a number of different assertion items from Pussy Riot prior to now. The listing contains “Virgin Mary, Please Turn out to be a Feminist” and “Drink My Blood”, to call a couple of.

“We stay in a world the place nearly every thing is on the market,” Nadya Tolokonnikova mentioned in the course of the assortment’s launch. “And now you will get it at low cost while you purchase greater than 1 Uncooked Further Virgin bottle of Feminism. Your voice is yours, despite the fact that your womb shouldn’t be (in America). No authorities, no company can take that away from you.”

Web3 Activism: How To Make A Change With NFTs

Apparently, as soon as Pussy Riot noticed the success of UkraineDAO, they “noticed the way in which that Web3 collectively united individuals who wished to assist and battle for social justice.”

“We have been enraged by the overturn of Roe v. Wade, and knew we needed to create the LegalAbortion.eth pockets for folks to ship secure and safe donations to ladies’s reproductive rights organizations,” Nadya added. “Partnering with Lens Protocol has made launching NFTs and accumulating funds for the pockets as an artist extremely straightforward and empowering, particularly figuring out that our voices are censorship-resistant in Web3 when utilizing blockchain know-how.”

In what methods can Web3 champion feminism? 

“We acknowledge NFTs as the start of probably the most impactful actions within the historical past of recent artwork,” Nadya mentioned. “In response to a report in late 2021 by ArtTactic, solely 5% of NFT gross sales have been by female-identified artists. The disruptive side of web3 can drastically change these stats, and UnicornDAO goals to assist extra folks purchase artwork created by ladies, non-binary and LGBTQ+ folks. It’s not a donation, however an funding that may develop in worth.”

“As extra ladies are persevering with to enter the area whereas Web3 grows, neighborhood is extraordinarily essential. The Lens neighborhood welcomes all artists, activists, and web3 members to seek out their place and provides them alternatives to create actual influence with their works.”

Pussy Riot’s Nadya on Roe V. Wade 

Nearly a decade after their arrest by the Russian authorities, Pussy Riot defined how social actions, protests, and activism have advanced. When requested in regards to the current Roe V. Wade invoice within the US, they solely expressed anguish.

“What’s occurring proper now to ladies’s rights in america could be very scary, however now now we have new, revolutionary methods of reaching every kind of people that wish to take part in protest whether or not it’s by web3, NFTs, or music,” Nadya added.

Pussy Riot’s upcoming mixtape: Matriarchy Now

After all, Pussy Riot even have their upcoming new mixtape: Matriarchy Now. It’ll arrive on August 5, that includes Tove Lo as an govt producer. iLoveMakonnen additionally options on on the brand new track “Plastic”. And, the music video is already out there to look at and stream.

Nadya Tolokonnikova defined, “We imagine that physique autonomy is a pillar of recent civilization, and this mixtape displays our dedication to proceed combating for girls’s rights.”

About Pussy Riot’s NFT companion, Lens Protocol

Lens Protocol is an open-source tech stack on the Polygon blockchain for constructing decentralized social purposes. Primarily, Lens allows creators to simply mint NFTs hassle-free. Furthermore, collectors can straight purchase the NFTs from apps constructed on Lens, together with Lenster, a decentralized microblogging and social networking service.