Among the things that may come as exciting news for all crypto publishers out there, the Vatican in Rome announced plans to launch a series of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) later this year. In this project, “famous masterpieces from the Vatican collection” will be placed on the blockchain, equipped with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) components, and entertainment VR company Sensorium and Vatican-related non-profit organizations. View your work through a partnership with. It is called Humanity 2.0.
“Public-private partnerships aim to extend the availability of Vatican heritage (manuscripts, masterpieces, academic initiatives) to those who cannot otherwise experience it,” a press release on the Sensorium website said. reading.
The Vatican City accepts more than 6 million visitors annually. In addition to the ceiling of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, the museum houses Caravaggio’s “Deposition” (c. 1600-1604) and Rafael’s “The School of Athens” (1508-1511). Among many other Italian Renaissance works, the museum also holds ancient crafts and paintings by contemporary artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Salvador Dali.
Sensorium has traditionally focused on creating VR experiences for musicians, especially DJs such as David Guetta and Steve Aoki. The company is headed by Russian-Israeli billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, a former owner of Mets and who somehow avoided sanctions despite his relationship with the shameful oligarch Vladimir Putinin.
According to the organization’s mission statement, the Vatican nonprofit Humanity 2.0, adjacent to consulting, aims to “identify obstacles to human prosperity” and “cooperate between sectors to remove them.” Humanity 2.0 is headed by Father Philip Raleigh, Director of Philosophy at Pontifical Lateran University in Vatican City. Its advisory board is made up of leaders in the business and non-profit sectors.
The list of weird use cases on the Humanity 2.0 website includes “Long-term space travel or planetary colonization.” From identifying the causes of millennial depression.
“We look forward to working with Sensorium to find ways to democratize art and make it more widely available to people around the world, regardless of socio-economic and geographical restrictions.” , Father Philip Larrey, Chairman of Humanity 2.0, said in a press release.
The cost of NFTs and the price of AR and VR experiences are unknown. Sensorium and Humanity 2.0 did not respond to Hyperlergic’s request for comment.
The Vatican City is not the first museum to launch an NFT. For example, the Belvedere Palace in Vienna has released the NFT collection of Gustav Klimt’s “Kiss” (1907-1908). Earlier this week, Hyperallergic reported on Britain’s groundbreaking legal decision to define NFTs as property. This is an important decision for those who have had their NFTs stolen.
