Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova is auctioning a bottle of her own blood

The Russian protest group Pussy Riot is set to auction the blood of one of its founding members, the conceptual artist and activist Nadya Tolokonnikova, alongside the freedom certificate that was issued on her release from prison in 2013.

Titled Drink My Blood, the one-off artwork consists of three parts: the freedom certificate stained with the artist’s own blood, a bottle of the aforementioned blood, and a digitized version of the certificate that is soundtracked by an unreleased Pussy Riot song, titled “Anthem”. 

The latter follows several other NFT releases by Pussy Riot, which have taken on everything from sexist power structures to their frequent incarcerations. More directly, Drink My Blood is a follow-up to Tolokonnikova’s Virgin Mary, Please Become A Feminist, an artwork created using her prison sentencing documents and sold for 40 ETH (which curently equates to more than £137,000) on SuperRare in September.

“I spilled some blood on the freedom certificate I was given upon release on xmas eve of 2013, after spending 2 years behind bars,” says Tolokonnikova in a statement on Drink My Blood. “I was injured multiple times as the result of being conditioned to slave labor while serving my time in a camp — I was forced to sew police uniforms.” 

“I wanted to make this freedom certificate to reflect the pain every prisoner goes through. The collector quite literally will be sent a physical bottle of my blood, and an NFT.”

A digital version of the artist’s blood vial will also be issued an an NFT to every bidder on the auction, while the winner will receive the physical bottle and digitized certificate. The physical certificate, though technically part of the artwork, will stay with the artist for legal reasons.

The 24-hour Drink My Blood auction begins December 2, at 7pm EST, via the crypto organisation Friends With Benefits (FWB).