Welcome to the Museo del Metaverso (MdM), a digital entity born in 2007 in Second Life and currently located in Craft World, an OpenSimulator-based world. Founder and curator of the Museum, I am Rosanna Galvani, with a background in the humanities and a past in public administration.
My passion for virtual worlds blossomed in 2007 after a lecture by Mario Gerosa and an intensive discovery of Second Life. This virtual environment fascinated me with its variety of artistic expressions, inspiring me to create the Museo del Metaverso, a digital institution designed to enhance virtual art and spread the passion for art and culture.
The Museum preserves purely digital works, replicas of physical works and images generated by artificial intelligence programmes and promotes exhibitions, lectures and discussions on different platforms.
The choice of Craft-World
The decision to opt for Craft-World was strongly influenced by its 3D implementation based on OpenSimulator. This choice is primarily driven by the opensource nature of OpenSimulator, which grants the Museo del Metaverso unprecedented creative freedom and opens up unlimited development perspectives. Craft-World, thanks to these fundamental features, is not only accessible to a wide audience, but also allows the creation of customised regions and integration with other OpenSimulator-based virtual worlds.
To visit the Museum on Craft-World, you can register an avatar at the following address: https://www.craft-world.org/page/en/register-an-avatar.php.
Next, download a client or viewer for the platform Opensim https://www.firestormviewer.org/os-operating-system/.
The Museo del Metaverso Project
The Museo del Metaverso consists of several thematic rooms dedicated to historical periods, artistic styles, genres and authors. From photographs to 3D works, from videos to digital replicas, each room presents works with information sheets that users can freely explore via a teleport network. At the same time, the Metaverse Museum offers the opportunity to participate in cultural events such as exhibitions, lectures and workshops.
The Museum’s Challenges and Successes
The difficulties encountered concerned the search and selection of artists, the respect of copyrights and the quality of the digital images. With the help of Craft-World owner Raffaele Macis a.k.a. Licu Rau and project partner Laszlo Ordogh a.k.a. Velazquez Bonetto, I overcame technical challenges such as format compatibility, upload speed and data security.
The successes of the project have been very rewarding.The museum has received praise for the quality of the works, the ease of access, and the possibility of interaction. It has received recognition and support from cultural institutions, such as museums, libraries and universities, and has helped to spread Italian artistic culture in virtual worlds.
The museum is dynamic, with programming ranging from permanent to temporary exhibitions. Over the years, it has also extended its influence into the physical world, collaborating with art academies and participating in important cultural events.
Importance of Social Relations in Virtual Worlds
Virtual worlds are fertile ground for interaction and create meaningful communities and connections. During the pandemic, the importance of such connections became even more prominent, with new users embracing this experience on a personal level.
Social connections within the virtual world play a crucial role in enriching the virtual experience and forming a passionate and experienced community. In this digital space, it is possible to share opinions, information, emotions, interests and projects with like-minded people. These virtual social relationships promote collaboration, cooperation, participation and creativity, key elements for the progress and growth of a virtual world.
In this context, art and culture are digitally transformed, giving rise to immersive, multi-sensory environments such as museums, galleries and virtual archives, in which visitors experience the illusion of being physically present. The shared experiences and ideas that emerge are an integral part of the museum’s community of artists, enthusiasts and friends, all united in inspiring further developments..
Current Developments and Future Prospects
The museum has continued to pursue its ‘phigital’ vocation (physical and digital together), which it has been experimenting with since its inception, through collaborations with public bodies and institutions, thanks to partnerships with Meet Digital Culture Center and SingularityU Milan, and realising multi-platform events.
The inauguration of the new museum, designed by Velazquez Bonetto, is a prelude to further developments and creative initiatives.
The Metaverse Museum is a revolution in the museum field, with substantial advantages in terms of accessibility, interactivity and involvement. The concept of the museum as a place in continuous development drives us to constantly seek new experiences and collaborations that will help shape the future of virtual arts.
All photographs are by artist Fiona Saiman
