Christie’s Announces Digital Art Charity Auction to Help Get Schools Online
On Wednesday, Jan. 24, auction house Christie’s will open bidding for “Creating Connections: Digital Art for Connectivity.”
The collection, curated by Nina Roehrs and hosted on Christie’s 3.0, features works by luminaries of the Web 3 space, including Rhea Myers, 0xDEAFBEEF, and Kevin Abosch. Bidding online will be open for a week—ending on Jan. 31. Other featured artists include Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, Niceaunties, Sarah Meyohas, Luis Ponce, Daniel Calderon Arenas (DCA) and Entangled Others.
In addition to the draw of acquiring works from talented creators, this auction is for a good cause. Proceeds will support Giga, a partnership between UNICEF and the International Telecom Union, which aims to connect every school to the Internet and its universe of information.
Bertold Mueller—Christie’s managing director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as UNICEF delegate for Switzerland and Lichtenstein—hopes this auction builds on the success of a Jan. 11 auction of three artworks by Cole Sternberg. This sale took place at the Crypto Finance Conference in St Moritz and raised nearly $120,000 for Giga.
“Building on the momentum of this initial sale, Christie’s Digital Art team now presents a fully on-chain sale on Christie’s 3.0 that will contribute additional funding to this worthy cause. Comprised of 24 fantastic artists, this sale will offer collectors a wonderful opportunity to acquire best-in-class digital artwork while simultaneously supporting UNICEF in their inspired mission,” he said in a statement.
Many of the participating artists, all of whom donated their work to the auction, are inspired by the promise that connectivity offers to young people.
“In today’s digital creative art world, which has reached new forms of visibility and significance with the establishment of the Internet and Blockchain technology, the basic idea of Giga finds great resonance. After all, neither art production nor distribution at today’s level would be possible without access to the digital world, which many artists can simply take for granted,” said collection curator Nina Roehrs.
Sofia Crespo and Felicean McCormick, who create art together under the name Entangled Others and have offered a piece for “Creating Connections,” agree with Roehrs.
“It is our experience, and belief, that access to the connectivity that underpins the digital world many take for granted is important, not only in enabling self-empowerment but also in that it can provide valuable tools and information that can re-contextualize and give us a better understanding of our local actions,” they said.
The Giga initiative, founded in 2019, has offered connectivity support to more than 84,000 schools. With around 2.6 billion people—one-third of the total human population—lacking access to connectivity, Giga builds open-source tools and procurement methods that enable governments to get schools connected.