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 x IKIYA X UNICORN PROTESTS THE ATTACK ON REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS WITH “MATRIARCHY NOW!” BANNER AT TEXAS STATE CAPITOL
— 𝖕𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖞 𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖙💦 (@pussyrrriot) June 9, 2022
MOMENT OF ACTION BEING MINTED AS NFT AND AUCTIONED VIA PARTY BID, ALL FUNDS TO REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTShttps://t.co/WFPqZjh8nY pic.twitter.com/hYqU6x5aqZ
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.”
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.
