Not even a week has passed and there’s already more news about legacy art museums entering Web3. Today, it’s the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) launching the ‘MoMa Postcard‘ experience.
According to a press release from the MoMa, the MoMa Postcard project is a new experience that encourages “collective creativity” on-chain. The project will be like a chain letter, but it makes use of blockchain and NFT technology.
Chain letters are messages where recipients are asked to make copies and send them to several other people. While they’ve been used for marketing scams in the past, MoMa’s Postcard project appears to be a fun, collaborative way for folks to explore Web3 technology.
Beginning tomorrow, October 3rd, the public is invited to collaboratively design 15 blank stamps from the MoMa. Each stamp is an interactive “NFT adventure waiting to be unlocked.” The project invites anyone from public to come to together to collaborate and experiment with the next iteration of the internet.
The MoMa is one of the world’s most influential art museums for contemporary art. It is located in Midtown Manhattan and offers some of the finest work in contemporary painting, architecture, prints, books, film, sculpture, design, and more.
This isn’t the MoMa’s first venture into Web3. Last year, the museum auctioned $70 million of modernist art masterpieces at Sotheby’s to expand its digital footprint. More recently, in February of this year, MoMa displayed the NFT artwork “Machine Hallucinations — Unsupervised” by Refik Anadol.
Notably, Anadol is also the artist behind ‘The Winds of Yawanawá‘ project, which merges real-time weather data from the indigenous Yawanawá peoples’ village in the Amazon to create mesmerizing NFTs to raise money to protect the rainforest.
Details about the MoMa Postcard project are still sparse, but the move is more evidence that the museum is interested in exploring the potential of Web3 technology.
Why are museums interested in Web3?
It makes sense that a modern art museum would be bullish on Web3, considering that NFT art is about as modern as it gets. But the MoMa isn’t the only museum that’s been venturing into Web3 waters lately.
Other museums that have launched Web3 initiatives recently include the Musée d’Orsay, The British Museum, the Orlando Museum of Art, the Miami Museum, the Historic Manhattan Art Museum, Dubai’s Museum of the Future, and more. Here are are some of the reasons museums have suddenly become bullish on the next iteration of the internet:
- When the pandemic shuttered doors, Web3 technology offered new ways for museums to make money.
- NFT and digital art is at the forefront of the modern art movement, and many of the world’s best artists are experimenting in the space.
- Metaverse exhibitions enable museums to reach a global audience.
- NFT technology lets museums sell digital collectibles of classic artwork at much lower price points.
- NFTs open a direct line of communication between museums and visitors.
These are a just a few of the ways that new technologies are currently helping museums. But since Web3 technology and its applications are still evolving, we will likely see all sorts of experiments with museums in Web3 in the months and years to come.
We will have to be patient to see if the MoMa Postcard project will be popular with fans. But considering the reputation of the museum and the popularity of Web3 (even despite the bear market), we think there’s a good bet it will be. At Rarity Sniper, we’ll keep you in the loop if there are any updates to the story.