World's top digital artists adopt NFT to help Ukraine, supported by government

Top video game artists created a charity NFT collection to raise funds for Ukraine, announced and supported by Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.

UKRAINE, May 15, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A group of top video game industry professionals, credited for game hits Rainbow Six, Warframe, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and Asphalt, together with the most talented Ukrainian digital artists created a charity NFT collection to help Ukraine. The collection will be released MAY 19 2022 on http://metahistory.gallery, MetaHistory Museum, the official Ukrainian charity NFT platform that has already raised 260 ETH / $722k for Ukraine. Their initiative is supported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, a government institution known for being open-minded to technological innovations, and has already raised more than 60 million for Ukraine in crypto donations. The Ministry announced this charity initiative MAY 12 2022 on its social media channels.

The charity NFT collection is named Avatars for Ukraine. The title refers to the original meaning of the word ‘avatar’, translated from Sanskrit as "incarnation". The stunning artworks capture the incarnations of everything free Ukraine stands for: its soul, spirit, wisdom and love. The collection is uniquely different from other avatars, not only in name. The artworks emerged during 2 months of war and were created by 50 of the most talented and acclaimed Ukrainian digital artists from both game and movie industries. Europe’s best science fiction illustrator Volodymyr Bondar, prestigious EuroCon award winner, contributed with an exclusive artwork. Volodymyr can be seen as an incarnation of spirit himself: he risked his life evacuating dozens of people from heavily shelled Kharkiv. Among the curators of the collection are two women sharing the same name, Kateryna, lead artist and the art director behind an Asphalt game franchise, with a record 1 billion in downloads. One Kateryna spent days hiding from airstrikes in the subway with her cats, the other found shelter in Romania.

Many NFT collections are exclusively interested in the money aspect of it, and the speculative mentality of both buyers and sellers fuels the controversy around the market. For the ideologists behind the Avatars collection, the purpose is noble. Alexey Savchenko (UK), former business development manager for Epic and former PR manager for GSC: “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”. Dmitry Tarabanov (Canada), game designer credited for game hits Rainbow Six and Warframe“: "Both game and movie industries allow you to experience universes that cost millions to produce, but ask only a few dollars in return, somewhat the opposite to the NFT culture. The stunning art created by these artists is free for all humanity to experience. Yet unlike for traditional painters, for digital artists there was no such thing as 'the original copy' that they could give away for charity. We thought, if NFT had any good use, that would be supporting someone you care about, like people of the country affected by war." All funds raised in the auction will support medical aid for the Ukrainian defenders, and will be distributed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine from their official crypto wallet Aid For Ukraine.

MetaHistory NFT platform helped the team by shaping the NFT technology to their high standards. MetaHistory has a success record as a charity NFT platform officially approved by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, government institution that has already raised millions in crypto for Ukraine, and earlier teamed up with Elon Musk to deliver Starlink system to Ukraine. The circumstances behind this NFT collection are unprecedented. “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 fulfil 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”, their joint statement says.

Yani Palianytsia
MetaHistory NFT Museum
press@metahistory.gallery

WATCH NOW: Avatars for Ukraine - Charity NFT Collection of the Iconic Digital Art - Announce Trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM8jV5Tbzww

¹ http://avatarsforukraine.com
² http://metahistory.gallery
³ https://twitter.com/mintsyfra/status/1524805430748274689