In an exciting announcement, The British Museum, a prestigious cultural institution, has partnered with The Sandbox, an Ethereum-based metaverse. This collaboration will involve the creation of a variety of NFT digital collectibles and an interactive digital space within the game’s metaverse, enabling the museum to broaden its reach in the digital realm.
Working closely with its licensing partner, LaCollection, a French startup, The British Museum intends to create NFTs that echo the rich diversity of its vast collections. This innovative approach aims to provide new immersive experiences to audiences worldwide. The digital space within The Sandbox will place The British Museum alongside contemporary cultural figures such as Snoop Dogg and multinational brands like McDonald’s, Adidas, and Gucci.
A Step Towards Digital Education and Inclusion
The move is seen as an opportunity to educate The Sandbox players about the myriad aspects of human history, art, and culture that The British Museum encapsulates. A spokesperson for The British Museum expressed enthusiasm about exploring innovative methods to share their collection and engage new demographics.
Despite its establishment in 1753 as the world’s first national public museum, The British Museum has proactively adopted innovative technologies. It had previously collaborated with LaCollection on three NFT collections, including digital postcards of works by Katsushika Hokusai and tokenized versions of works by British artist Joseph Mallord William Turner.
Notably, these digital endeavors have enabled wider appreciation of artworks that were otherwise restricted, such as those bequeathed to the museum by former Christie’s chairman, Robert Wylie Lloyd. The terms of his bequest allowed the artworks to be displayed only for limited periods each year.