Vladimir Putin Cake To Debut at Christie’s July 8, 2022

Festival of Gratitude begins at Christie's

Artwrld is pleased to announce its inaugural commission, Festival of Gratitude—a series of new works from leading conceptual artist Walid Raad. The project debuts with the inclusion of the Vladimir Putin cake NFT in Christie’s “Trespassing” auction on July 8.

Festival of Gratitude is a series of 20 digital cakes—and over 1,800 individual cake slices—dedicated to some of the world's most toxic, larger-than-life leaders, both past and present.

Festival of Gratitude

The twentieth century ushered in a new global era of authoritarian rule. Leaders leveraged mass media to prey upon the anxieties of their respective populations, relying on cults of personality and saccharine images to launder their reputations for violence.

With Festival of Gratitude, Raad presents a series of twenty unique 3D-animated birthday cakes—and hundreds of individual cake slices—each dedicated to some of the world’s most toxic or larger-than-life leaders.

Raad employs dazzling cartoon graphics, appropriating the predominant aesthetics of the nascent NFT space for a series of absurd celebrations.

Slice event to follow

On July 15th artwrld will execute a custom smart contract to "slice the Putin cake."

"Celebrating" Putin's 69th birthday, 69 unique cake slices will be generated. Each slice is unique with either a poison or an elixir on its base. The cake owner will receive 10 slices, and the rest will be available for public mint on artwrld's site.

Join allowlist for the slice event

All proceeds benefit Ukraine

All proceeds from the sale of the Putin cake NFT will go to a community fund to support organizations providing direct relief to those affected by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Managed by the Endaoment—a 501(c)(3) organization that enables philanthropic financial services on the blockchain—the Ukraine Fund has raised over $750,000 to date.

Walid Raad (b. 1967, Chbaniyeh, Lebanon) creates performances, installations, videos, and photographs to address how violence affects bodies, minds, cities, art and tradition. His work has been shown at the Venice Biennale, the Istanbul Biennial, and Documenta, and in solo exhibitions at MoMA, the Louvre, the Stedelijk Museum, and Whitechapel Art Gallery. Recent exhibitions include We have never been so populated (2022, Paula Cooper Gallery); We Lived So Well Together (2022, Kunsthalle Mainz); and Cotton Under My Feet (2021-2022, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza). His work is in the collections of museums worldwide, including the Centre Pompidou, the Stedelijk Museum, Kunsthaus Zürich, the Walker Art Center, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He teaches Art in The Cooper Union, and he is a founding partner of Artwrld.

What a crowd of sublime images and beloved names press upon my recollection! Immortal warriors, posterity will not believe the multitude of your triumphs; but to us history loses all its improbabilities.Citizen Carnot, Festival of Gratitude and Victory, Paris, May 29, 1796