Ukraine’s top digital artists are selling War-Themed digital art to collect funds to support medical aid for their soldiers.
A group of big names in the world of art and cinema organized a charity NFT auction where they will sell their digital art representing war crimes and horrors of invasion.
This auction is expected to raise a good amount of money for medical aid to support the Ukrainian military’s fallen soldiers. The Auction will go like on May 19 at 17:00 GMT on MetaHistory.
MetaHistory has already raised 260 ETH to support medical aid for Ukrainian Defenders.
Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhaylo Fedorov announced this auction on his social media accounts, uploading the Video Trailer that represents a glimpse of the artworks. The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine is also supporting this initiative to collect more funds – So far, they’ve collected $60M worth of donations in cryptocurrencies.
Avatars for Ukraine
The NFT collection being auctioned is called Avatars for Ukraine. The whole collection represents how the Ukrainian nation has been affected by the horror of war and, most specifically, invasion. Each NFT is unique and yet means the same thing.
During the last three months of the war in Ukraine, top 50 artists from the animations, arts, and the movie industry have been preparing this collection.
On top of the list is Volodymyr Bondar, who has risked his life by evacuating Ukrainians from heavily shelled Kharkiv. Volodymyr is known as Europe’s best Sci-Fi illustrator. He’s also won EuroCon, Europe’s most prestigious award for artworks.
Volodymyr Bodar: We Will Not Surrender
“We thought if we were going to do NFT to help Ukraine, we should do it in the same way we build our game universes, with high production values and the best talents around us. Epic Games, the company that will most likely be the first one to build the ‘real metaverse’, raised $150 million for Ukraine”, said Alexey Savchenko – former Business Development Manager at Epic Games and former Public Relations manager for GSC Game World.
“The stunning art created by these artists belongs to humanity, similarly to replicas of the Mona Lisa. You don’t need NFT to experience it. At the same time, NFT can serve as a digital first-edition, a symbol representing the original artwork, like the Mona Lisa secured in the Louvre.”
“People find it priceless because they agree on its historic value and rarity. We believe the artworks in our collections are historic and unique. The artists are giving it all away in exchange for help to the Ukrainian defenders”, says Dmitry Tarabanov Game Designer for Rainbow Six and Warframe.
According to MetaHistory, no more than 70 artworks will be in the collection. The artists are adding new collections every day as the war continues, but the final collection will comprise only 70 NFTs.
MetaHistory wouldn’t want to create more artworks but the shelling and horrors of war still continue in Ukraine.
This is what the joint statement from MetaHistory said:
“We wish there will be no more artworks created in the largest war since WWII. We wish there will be no legendary artists painting while their cities are being shelled. We wish there will be no more than 70 items in this collection because every day this war has been adding one more artwork. “
“Still, these NFTs are here and now to fulfill their destiny, the noblest cause for this technology that one can think of: to help good prevail, to invest in the future we believe in, and to adopt the right direction of history”
ARTWORKS
Rostyslav Zagornov: Their Death
Sadan Vague: Mariupol
Stanislav Lunin: Welcome to Free Ukraine
AnnaSova: Unbroken
Alex Twin: Evacuation from Bucha