Pussy Riot Crashes Texas State Capitol, Mints Commemorative Ethereum NFT

While the eyes of the Web3 world are on Consensus 2022 in Austin, Texas, protest art collective Pussy Riot has staged an attention-grabbing protest in the city—and minted the moment as an NFT.

On Thursday, the group unfurled a banner reading “MATRIARCHY NOW!” from the third floor of the Texas State Capitol building, in support of reproductive rights.

Pussy Riot announced that the moment is being minted as an NFT and auctioned using PartyBid, a platform that uses the Ethereum blockchain to auction non-fungible tokens. The group said that all proceeds from the auction will go to the fight for reproductive rights.

“Texas is a battleground state for reproductive rights, and what happens here is watched closely by the rest of us,” Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova told Decrypt via Telegram.

Before the event, a tour guide led a group into the domed room to see the walls lined with the portraits of former Texas governors. As Pussy Riot entered, wearing green bandanas that spelled out the group’s name, they briefly spoke with a female member of the Texas State police, who seemed intrigued by what the group was doing.

On cue, the activists lowered a 45-foot “Matriarchy Now!” banner from the Capitol building’s 3rd floor. Visitors to the capital had mixed reactions, some hurriedly getting out of the way, others taking out their phones to snap pictures of the protest as the group raised their fists.

Members of decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) Unicorn DAO participated in the Austin protest alongside Lakota Indigenous group Ikiya Collective.

Activist DAOs

Activists are increasingly turning to DAOs to coordinate activities and raise funds.

Tolokonnikova, who spent two years in prison for protesting against Russia president Vladimir Putin, launched Ukraine DAO in March to support Ukrainians affected by the war with Russia. The DAO minted an image of the Ukrainian Flag that was auctioned off for 2,258 ETH, around $6.75 Million at the time.

In the same month, she and others in the Web3 space launched Unicorn DAO, a group dedicated to equality for women-identified and LGBTQ+ people in the world and the digital art space; last month, Unicorn DAO raised $4.5 Million to support women and LGBTQ+ artists; participants in the raise included ConsenSys Mesh, Bored Ape Yacht Club creators Yuga Labs, NFT collection World of Women and NFT artist Beeple.