If only a couple of years ago many people asked what NFT was and what it meant, now, in 2022, people involved in the field of art and culture are trying to figure out if this really is a gold mine or if we should be more careful. Traditional museums are also a part of the discussion. Let's have a look at how and why cultural institutions use modern technologies.
The main things a museum does is to conserve and to show. Today the questions of preservation and its forms are the most crucial. Museums have a large number of assets, which, as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, still need to be digitized. The sooner the better. The digital collection lets cultural institutions share their archives with a wider audience, with a viewer who might never have been able to visit the museum itself physically. In addition, it's also a way to attract a young audience that prefers digital content and immersive experience.
The increased interest in NFT attracted the attention of major institutions — from the British Museum to Hip-hop and Decorative Arts Museums. The term "metaverse" and discussions of online spaces no longer scare conservative museum workers.
When it comes to cultural institutions, the best way to understand modern reality is a corresponding to the values of a museum or gallery approach to NFT. We are talking not about the thoughtless use of a hype opportunity, but about strengthening the value of the institution with a help of NFT. So, for example, did the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami. First, an auction was held there, where a limited series of NFT by artist Cory Van Lew was sold in both physical and digital forms. Then ICA became the first US museum to launch its own NFT platform. A bold move that makes it possible to build communication with patrons in the online space, create a loyalty program and attract modern creators to cooperate. Moreover, the initiative came from the director of the museum Alex Gartenfeld himself, who confidently declared: "There is no question that NFTs are an emergent form. We see it as part of our mission, as a contemporary art museum, to engage with technologies at the time they are rapidly developing".
Museums consider new technologies as an effective tool for educational programs that …
