WASHINGTON, D.C. | DECEMBER 6, 2022 — National Whistleblower Center is proud to announce a live discussion with artist Ahmet Öğüt about his forthcoming NFT collection Monuments of the Disclosed—a series of 99 unique NFTsof 3D monuments honoring nine whistleblowers.
Monuments of the Disclosed will begin with an AR drop on November 17, during which users can place nine monuments in any location in anticipation for the mint. The AR function will last indefinitely and is open to anyone with a smartphone via the Artwrld website. The pre-mint NFT drop is on December 13, with public mint following on December 15. Following a purchase of an NFT, users will be able to place the monument in their wallet through the AR feature. Proceeds to benefit Protocinema and National Whistleblower Center.
The nine whistleblowers include Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, who sacrificed her career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to speak out against vanadium poisoning in South Africa; Marlene Garcia-Esperat, an investigative journalist murdered for her efforts in exposing large-scale government corruption in the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture; Bunnatine “Bunny” Greenhouse, who raised concerns about major irregularities in a no-bid, no-compete contract being awarded to KBR-Halliburton during the 2003 invasion of Iraq; Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician, scientist and author whose research helped uncover the Flint, Michigan water crisis; Phillip Saviano, a survivor of clergy sex abuse who helped reveal the Catholic Church’s cover-up of decades-long predatory abuse of children by priests; Karen Silkwood, who was America’s first nuclear whistleblower after having discovered high levels of nuclear contamination at the Kerr-McGee nuclear power plant; Aaron Swartz, who sought to protect freedom of information within the Internet; Li Wenliang, one of the first people to raise concerns about a suspected severe acute respiratory syndrome, later known as Covid-19; and Kimberly Young-McLear, who exposed gross misuse of power in how the U.S. Coast Guard handled bullying, harassment and discrimination allegations.
Each artwork will be an original combination of a whistleblower bust in one of three different materials (bronze, silver and gold) atop a concrete pedestal.
Whistleblowers impact lives across the globe for the better but are often themselves unknown, unsung and persecuted. While traditional physical monuments solidify dominant—and often untrue—narratives, Monuments of the Disclosed deploys digital art’s unique potential to build counter-histories and celebrate the everyday people who make sacrifices for the sake of major impact.
National Whistleblower Center’s Executive Director will talk with Öğüt using twitter, at. 12 noon on December 6 at 12 noon. The conversation will be live, and you are invited to join by following NWC @stopfraud.
NWC is available for comment by e-mail at info@whistleblowers.org
