May 4, 20224 min read

Avatars for Ukraine + MetaHistory: Press Release

Updated: May 18, 2022

Title: Ukraine’s top digital artists sell their war-themed art to support medical aid for Ukrainian military

UKRAINE, May 18, 2022 / A group of top video game and cinema digital artists, credited for game hits Rainbow Six, Warframe, Stalker, Metro, Prey, Halo, League of Legends, Asphalt, organized a charity NFT auction to raise money for medical aid for the Ukrainian defenders. The auction will go live MAY 19 2022 17:00 GMT on MetaHistory, an 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, which has raised more than 60 million for Ukraine in crypto donations. The auction was announced by Vice Prime-Minister Mykhaylo Fedorov MAY 12 2022 on his social media channels, with the premiere of the spectacular video trailer presenting the artworks from the auction.

The charitable NFT collection is titled 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 NFTs, not only in name. The artworks emerged during 3 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 females sharing the first name Kateryna, both work as art managers on the Asphalt game, developed in Ukraine and downloaded more than 1 billion times. The war affected them in a different way: 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, but for the ideologists behind the Avatars collection, the purpose is noble. Alexey Savchenko (UK), former business development manager for Epic Games and former PR manager for GSC Game World: ‘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’: ‘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’. 100% of money raised will support medical aid for the Ukrainian military.

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. “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.

ABOUT AVATARS FOR UKRAINE

Avatars for Ukraine is a charity NFT collection of the iconic digital art created in response to the largest war since WWII. The avatars for the free nation. The incarnations of the spirit of Ukraine in its fight for existence. Created by the top digital Ukrainian artists and produced by the video game hit makers. 100% of the proceeds will support medical aid for Ukrainian defenders. The official collection approved by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.

URL: www.avatarsforukraine.com

ABOUT METAHISTORY NFT MUSEUM

MetaHistory NFT museum is created to commemorate the history of the current events in Ukraine, preserve the truth, and collect donations for humanitarian aid. We have a new take on the role of art in society – it must be relevant, courageous, activist. And eternal. To achieve that, a non-profit, decentralized, community-driven team of Ukrainian crypto experts & top-notch artists has come together.

URL: metahistory.gallery