NFT Company Palm Teams up with Pussy Riot to Foster Activist Art

Palm Foundation, the company behind non-fungible token ($NFT) ecosystem Palm network, said Thursday it’s teaming up with Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova to teach a class on digital activism, as well as curate an upcoming feminist art contest with PalmDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) governed by holders of Legendary Palm NFTs.

Tolokonnikova’s “Activist Master Class” will draw upon experiences from her career as an artist and activist, fighting for social and political justice through creative expression. The course will be open to Palm community members in May through the Palm Academy – the network’s native learning hub.

Tolokonnikova said in a press release that she’s hoping the course will empower individuals to advocate for causes they most deeply care about while helping educate others on the power of digital art on-chain.

“I'm proud to work together with Palm to support and inspire creators, especially female-identified and LGBTQ+ creators, who have been smashed by patriarchy for way too long,” said Tolokonnikova.

Additionally, Palm and Tolokonnikova will continue to empower artists through an upcoming feminist art contest set to take place in April during the $NFT.NYC conference. PalmDAO is calling on activists and artists to submit their work to the competition. From there, Tolokonnikova will select five finalists to be showcased during the event, where one winner will earn $1,000 and a special display of their work.

“We are so excited to have Nadya Tolokonnikova as our first curator, especially during International Women’s Month and right after curating her collection for Sotheby’s,” Executive Director of the Palm Foundation Andrea Lerdo told CoinDesk.

Tolokonnikova has already made a name for herself in the digital art world on top of her career as an activist. This week, Tolokonnikova curated a Sotheby’s auction in honor of International Women’s Day, featuring works from feminist creators in the traditional and Web3 art worlds. In January, she collaborated with fellow activist artist Shepard Fairey to release an $NFT collection to raise money for troops in Ukraine.

Read more: UnicornDAO Raises $4.5M to Empower Women and LGBTQ $NFT Creators