The British Museum, founded in 1753, is the world's largest museum, housing over 8 million artefacts.

However, in a theft in August this year, it was estimated that around 2,000 items were stolen or damaged.

The museum has been struggling to recover since.

The former director of the British Museum, Peter John Higgs, was dismissed on suspicion of stealing museum artefacts.

To make matters worse, some of these pilfered items have already been sold at low prices on auction websites.

Artefacts Still Missing

As reported by the American art magazine ARTnews, around 350 stolen artefacts have been located as of now.

Last month, the museum issued a public appeal for assistance in recovering the stolen items.

Following the theft, the British Museum has revised the regulations for accessing the vault, no longer permitting individuals to enter alone.

British Museum Metaverse

Since then, it appears that the British Museum has decided to change their approach to displaying artefacts.

They have announced in a press release dated October 18th their plan to digitise all collection artefacts to enhance security and accessibility for the public.

Mark Jones, Interim Director of the British Museum stated:

"Following the discovery that objects have been stolen from the collection, we have taken steps to improve security and are now confident that a theft of this kind can never happen again."

This digitalisation project is expected to take five years to complete and is estimated to cost approximately £10 million.

However, the museum does not intend to seek funding from taxpayers or the UK government but instead plans to raise funds through private means.

Mark Jones stated:

"Over the next five years, our goal is to enhance and finalise the online record for every object in the British Museum's collection. With 2.4 million records to process, more than half are already complete. Once finished, this effort will grant worldwide access to our entire collection, providing an invaluable resource for various purposes."

Entering the NFT Market

In July, the British Museum partnered with the metaverse gaming platform The Sandbox, offering an experience within the metaverse.

Simultaneously, they will collaborate with an authorised partner, the French startup LaCollection, to create a series of NFT collectibles.

In fact, as early as September 2021, the British Museum collaborated with the French NFT platform LaCollection, auctioning and selling 200 digital postcards of the museum's collection by the Japanese artist Hokusai.

Through this, they were able to sell artwork from various artists in the form of NFTs.

SEE: The British Museum's NFT Collection. Research: Lacollection 8211

Losing Sight Of Original Value?

Through their efforts, it can be said that the British Museum is creating their own brand of metaverse, one that breaks geographical limitations.

People from around the world can now appreciate their artwork on the metaverse platform without the necessity of visiting the UK.

Could this influence other museums worldwide to enter the metaverse as well?

I doubt it.

While NFTs and the Metaverse continue to trend, I remain skeptical about their approach.

There is a distinct quality in experiencing a museum in person, and shifting the primary focus of museums towards the Metaverse, I feel, may undermine the original value of museums.

When we visit a museum, we not only want to appreciate the artworks but also to experience the local sentiments, understand the historical context that influenced most artists in the area, and appreciate the grandeur of the museum's original architecture.

I find experiences like these hard to replace, no matter how far we might go into the metaverse.