Ground-Breaking ‘IMAGINE’ Art Posters to Be Auctioned as NFTs for Charity

A striking poster campaign entitled ‘IMAGINE’, designed to highlight unconscious gender bias and which recently launched to public acclaim, is now up for auction. The work will be auctioned off on June 17 at Mondrian Shoreditch, during an evening event designed to celebrate gender diversity in art and to enable guests to explore the world of web3 creativity. All proceeds from the auction will go to three charities, marking the start of a forever fundraising campaign as the blockchain art is exchanged down the months and years.

The series of arresting posters originally appeared online and across UK outdoor advertising sites to mark International Women’s Day. In response to an avalanche of support, the creatives behind the posters, at ad agency CPB London, chose to develop a permanent record of the original work in the form of an NFT collection. 

Guests who win the auction for their preferred poster on June 17 will walk away with the physical art, and also receive a one-of-one NFT, minted on the Polygon blockchain, enabling them to then sell it on the secondary market should they choose to. Built in to the NFT will be a 10% charitable donation for all future trades, with funds raised being split between Beyond Equality, Women for Women’s Ukraine appeal and the Young Women’s Trust in an ad-infinitum fundraising initiative created by CPB London.

Prior to the auction, a panel of speakers will discuss the possibilities web3 offers to create long-lasting impact, by transforming charitable funding structures and connecting global communities. Joining the panel are:

• Lavinia Devonshire, founder of Women in Blockchain Talks and NFT marketplace Crypto Kweens

• Leah Sams, the illustrator and NFT artist behind Power of Women NFTs

• Sophie Conway, client strategist at SmartMedia Labs, working with brands at the intersection of blockchain, apps and adTech

• Tom Watson, VP of Partnerships at McLaren Automotive, and the lead for the luxury carmaker’s metaverse roadmap

• Tina Ziegler, art curator and NFT consultant and part of the team behind Adidas' recent, acclaimed digital art exhibition 

All attendees on June 17 will receive a free NFT - a POAP, or unique proof of attendance protocol- and receive priority access to a follow up collection: fresh interpretations by artists of the unconscious gender bias theme which will be previewed at the event. Future art collection will be listed on Rarible later in the year. The collection will support emerging and established artists via an inbuilt royalty structure as well as the original three charities.

Helen James, managing director of CPB London, commented: “The love shown for the original posters is astonishing, all the way from everyday people to academics, brands and activists – even governmental bodies. Minting the collection as NFT’s enables us to preserve the work for posterity on the blockchain, but also to punch up the charitable fundraising element thanks to the wonders of web3.”

NFT art is a rapidly growing field, with London one of the two key global hubs for auction sales. According to a study from NonFungible, the total value of NFT transactions quadrupled to approximately £178m last year, although the wealth created via many of these transactions remains largely in mens' hands - only around 16% of all NFTs are owned by women according to ArcTactic. This reality reflects a lack of gender parity in broader, traditional the art world: at auction, women’s artworks sell for a significant discount compared with men’s, with just two works by women having ever broken into the top 100 auction sales for paintings, despite women being the subject matter for approximately half of the top 25.