Highlights
- To find out whether NFTs are about art or simply money, the Hermitage sold $440,000 worth of them on Binance.
The Russian Museum
Russia’s State Hermitage Museum has launched its first virtual digital art exhibition, continuing its foray into the nonfungible token market. Since its inaugural NFT auction on Binance in September raised over $400,000 for the Hermitage, a free exhibition of NFT artworks only existing in virtual space, the so-called “celestial hermitage,” or the museum’s digital avatar, is currently being held at the Hermitage for the public to enjoy.
Invisible Aether
“Invisible Aether,” the Hermitage’s new exhibition, debuted on Nov. 10 and is based on the metaverse idea, enabling visitors to create digital avatars and navigate the virtual site using a variety of devices, including PCs, cellphones, virtual reality glasses, and more. According to the project’s lead curator, an Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange replica has been created for the exhibition, although it has nothing to do with trade. It is not possible to purchase any of the artwork in the show. In order to explain what digital art is, we don’t discuss the price of these works, since the cost of art is secondary to its worth.
Words From The Museum Director
Dimitri Ozerkov, Hermitage’s director of contemporary art, said that Hermitage would restore all paintings to their rightful owners, including artists and art collectors, after the show ended on Dec. 10. However, he went on to say that “further events are beyond the jurisdiction of the museum. When asked about the free exhibition, Ozerkov said at a news conference on Thursday that Hermitage had “no financial interest” in hosting it, emphasizing that it is working to discover the true worth of NFTs. If you take away the money, “we want to see what’s left,” he remarked.
Selection Process For NFT Artworks
Two curators, including Hermitage contemporary art section member Anastasia Garnova and Ozerkov, selected the artists and pieces for the “Invisible Aether” show. When selecting subjects and chapters for a museum show, we feel that curator selection is essential. Garnova said that the selection criteria was focused on the value of the artworks in comprehending the NFT’s core. According to her, “Artists were unable to apply for participation in the show.”
What To Expect From The Exhibition
More than 30 paintings are on display during the show, including Schrödinger’s Cat from the famous blockchain game CryptoKitties, produced on the Ethereum network by Canadian company Dapper Labs. The list also contains a piece by the artist known as Darkzuu, located in Saint Petersburg. Among the other companies represented at the show are NFT platforms like Snark.art and Masters digital, as well as well-known names in the art market like Rarible and Superrare and emerging ones like KnownOrigin, ArtBlocks, and OpenSea.
Source: https://celestialhermitage.ru/
