You know a state is probably in a heap of trouble if they end up on Pussy Riot’s shit list.
On Thursday the exiled Russian activists entered Texas’ state capitol building in Austin and hung a 13.72 m pink banner reading “MATRIARCHY NOW,” to protest the state’s restrictive abortion policies. The activists announced they will mint a video of the event as an NFT and use its auction sale to support reproductive rights.
A video posted by Pussy Riot shows the members walking up to the capitol building clad in masks and green bandanas with the group’s name printed on them. The activists then entered the capitol building, draped the banner from the third floor, and stood in front of it with their fists held up.
“We believe that every person with a womb has a fucking right to decide what they want to do with their own body,” one of the Pussy Riot members said. “Vasectomy prevents abortions.”
Texas’ notoriously restrictive anti-abortion legislation went into effect on September 1, 2021. The law bans abortions at about six weeks and theoretically grants just about anyone the ability to sue anyone who performs or aids in an abortion
Pussy riots’ protest occurred just a mile away from the event space for Consensus 2022, a conference featuring a wide array of crypto and Web3 evangelists. Pussy Riot, who organised their protest and subsequent NFT minting in conjunction with crypto-anonymous feminist group Unicorn and Ikiya Collective, said they would auction it off through Party Bid.
This isn’t Pussy Riot’s first foray into blockchain and NFTs. Earlier this year, Pussy Riot founding member Nadya Tolokonnikova created the UnicornDAO, a space meant to collect NFT artwork from feminist and queer artists and ultimately help fund businesses led by women LGBTQ+ people. Grimes, Beeple, and Sia have all reportedly joined the DAO.
The UnicornDAO inherently pushes back against the Web3 status quo, which critics claim is over-represented by white men. Or, as they put it, the UnicornDAO is interested in “subverting crypto bro culture.”
“If you’re not going to involve women and girls, then mass adoption is never going to happen,” Tolokonnikova told Blockworks last month. “Or it’s going to happen in a really ugly way. Not cute.”