The British Museum will make cultural relics into digital collections and cooperate with Metaverse Platform

On July 27, the metaverse platform "The Sandbox" announced a partnership with the "British Museum" to create digital collectibles for its collections since its founding in 1753. This is also the entry of the "British Museum" into the virtual world first step.

"The Sandbox" officially stated that through our cooperation, we will provide users with a new immersive experience, allowing anyone anywhere in the world to view the collections of the "British Museum". This time, The Sandbox cooperates with the NFT platform La Collection, an authorized partner of the "British Museum". The focus of the cooperation is to develop digital collections and experiences that showcase the museum's history.

In fact, the "British Museum", which ranks among the world's four major museums, has issued NFT as early as two years ago. In 2021, the "British Museum" announced a cooperation with the French NFT platform La Collection to sell museum collections in the form of NFT.

The NFTs for sale include more than 200 pieces of Hokusai's works including "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" and "Kaifengkaiqing" in the famous ukiyo-e master Katsushika Hokusai's "Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji" series. Among them, the NFT of "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" was finally sold for $45,000 (10.6ETH).

In 2022, the two parties will join forces again, and the "British Museum" will launch the second wave of collection NFT. The protagonist this time is JMW Turner (JMW Turner, 1775-1851), a British national treasure painter. The cheapest painting NFT is only 799 (RMB 5,720).

This NFT collection comes from 20 specially selected 50 Tanner watercolor paintings given to the museum by former Christie's executive Robert Wylie Lloyd (1868-1958), such as "Storm Shipwreck" and "Roman Colosseum".

Russia's "Hermitage Museum", which is also one of the four major museums in the world, will also join the hot trend of NFT in 2021.

The “Hermitage Museum” auctioned off some of the most representative masterpieces from its collection on the Binance NFT marketplace — Leonardo da Vinci’s Madonna Litta, Van Gogh’s Judith and Lilac Bush, Vasily Contin Ski's Composition VI, and Claude Monet's A Corner of the Garden at Montgeron.

Not only the top museums, but also the world-renowned art museum of painting, the Italian "Uffizi Gallery", also sells the paintings in the collection in the form of NFT. For example, Michelangelo's "Doni Todo" sold an NFT for $170,000.

In addition, there are many other works of art that have also been NFTized and sold on the blockchain. This trend shows that NFT has become an emerging art market, providing a brand new trading platform for artists and collectors.

Overseas museums also issue digital collections like domestic ones. The "Boston Museum of Fine Arts" and "British National Gallery" in the United States once cooperated with "Magic Core" to launch digital collections of the Van Gogh and Monet series. It was sold out immediately, but now with the withdrawal of the phantom core, most users of this boutique collection have also applied for a refund.

It is undeniable that geographical restrictions and travel costs are common problems faced by offline museums. NFT digital collections can not only raise more financial subsidies for museums, but also help museums reach more audiences. Otherwise, some ordinary people may never be able to personally access these artworks in offline museums.

Digital collections can bring many benefits to museums, including raising more funds, reaching larger audiences, and resolving copyright issues. While the current market for NFT digital collections is relatively small, over time they will become an important part of the museum and art world.

Users who have obtained digital collections will undoubtedly have a strong interest in the collection and the museum. It is very interesting and worth sharing to check in the museum and take a photo of the digital collection and the physical collection.