An NFT collection depicting the year-long protest staged by thousands of Indian farmers seeks to memorialise those who died during the agitation and cement the protests in history. The collection, prepared by Sandeep Narwani, Archit Malhotra and Terence-Hari Fernandes along with several journalists, photographers, filmmakers and visual artists from across India seek to help the families who have lost a loved one to the protests by raising money.
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The protests began in September 2020 against the three farm laws passed by the Indian Parliament. The laws sought to give the private sector a bigger role in the country’s agriculture landscape. Farmers, primarily from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh launched massive protests and forced the government to repeal the laws.
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It’s a live collection that will continue to expand over time as more people join in. “The farmers’ protest was the largest and perhaps one of the longest civil disobedience protests in modern India, and it concluded with a triumph for the farmers. This undeniable fact must remain unsullied by politicians for their personal gain,” curator Archit Malhotra told indianexpress.com.
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Numerous individuals have made their on-the-ground work during the protests available in the collection, including journalist Saba Naqvi, filmmaker Vidhaat Raman, and photographer Akshay Bhoan.
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Once all of the items are sold out, the complete collection will be made available at a one-of-a-kind ‘Metaverse Museum’ located in a digital field, according to the curators. It is intended for the general public to examine the NFTs and comprehend the historical background.
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“The metaverse museum will be a farm-field that you can digitally walk around and see our coverage of the ground reality of the protest. Essentially anyone with an internet connection and a laptop or phone will be able to visit it for free. We plan on doing physical exhibitions as well in the future where the same digital assets can be projected,” Archit Malhotra explained.
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“Blockchain technology is also decentralised and as such, the validity and existence of the Collection, in its entirety, is always in the public record,” said Curator Terence-Hari Fernandes.
Art, literature, and activism, according to the contributors, are important means for capturing historic events.
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NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. It is a non-interchangeable form of cryptocurrency created through blockchain technology. They are unique digital assets designed to represent ownership of online items like a painting, a photograph, videos, music, GIFs, or even rare art or collectable trading cards.
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Disclaimer: This article has been amended to exclude mention of Atam Pargas, after the organisation distanced itself from the project, saying, “Atam Pargas has nothing to do with the NFT museum, and Atam Pargas’s name has been misused at https://www.farmersprotestnft.com/.”