Kyle Webster

<h1>PoignART</h1> <h2>////////////////</h2>PoignART is both a platform for the artists of the world to make their voices heard, and a way to pierce and evoke the hearts of a global audience. It’s a fundraising mechanism that will automatically donate all proceeds to Unchain ( <a href="https://unchain.fund" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://unchain.fund</a> ). It’s also a way to amplify the very thing that Russia fears; freedom, expression and the right to self determination. PoignART itself is a lazy minting platform for artists to create NFTs. It fixes a few major pain points currently being experienced: <ul><li>Many people want to support the cause as creators</li><li>Many people are trying to exploit the situation</li><li>The misalignment of trust between the genuine and ingenuine is dampening efforts, increasing friction for participation and wasting effort</li><li>Creators might not have the funds to pay for gas on main-net Ethereum</li></ul> PoignART is intended to be a channel for raw emotion and shared experience to flow. The value inherent in that energy can be harnessed for funding organizations that are directly supporting the Ukrainian people. <h2>Narrative:</h2><h2> </h2>PoignART is named after the "Poignard", a long thin dagger which is used to pierce armor and to wound the heart. The earth watches in horror as Vladimir Putler’s Russian Bear attacks.&nbsp;Killing and displacing tens of thousands of Ukrainian people. This is a fundamental threat to the stability of our world. There is a new battlefield now, fought in the hearts and minds of people around the world. Ukraine now shields the entire world from an aggressor and his military. The history between Ukrainians and Russians has been going on for well over a century. In 1922 Ukraine fought for its independence but lost and was subsumed to the communist state. Ukraine has always been a separate entity with its own language, status and culture within the USSR. Fast forward to 1932-1933 when Joseph Stalin, fearful of an independent Ukraine, decided to forcefully take the land away from the Ukrainian people and give it to the Soviet State. The atrocity that ensued became known as the Holodomor also called The Secret Genocide. The Holodomor is Ukrainian for Extermination by Hunger. This artificial famine developed by the Russian government starved to death an estimated 4 to 6 million Ukrainians. "In the case of the Holodomor, this was the first genocide that was methodically planned out and perpetrated by depriving the very people who were producers of food of their nourishment (for survival). What is especially horrific is that the withholding of food was used as a weapon of genocide and that it was done in a region of the world known as the ‘breadbasket of Europe’.” – Prof. Andrea Graziosi, University of Naples. History is seemingly beginning to repeat itself and a major humanitarian crisis is looming on the horizon with this Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is one of many reasons why the team at PoignArt is so dedicated to helping out the people of Ukraine. <h2>Memo:</h2> Hey everyone, Kyle Stargarden here &lt;3 We are hoping to raise $2,500 to enable one of our core contributors to volunteer all of his time over the next 30 days to humanitarian efforts, as well as his work on PoignART. The funds will be used for: a new very inexpensive lap-top (about $300), his living expenses and gas for his trips between Spokane WA and Federal Way as he transports donated goods to Meest.