Italian university promotes local culture in the metaverse

University of Bari Aldo Moro is set to promote local culture in the metaverse using non-fungible tokens

By Shashank Bhardwaj

University of Aldo Moro
Image: Shutterstock

Italy’s Aldo Moro University has undertaken steps to promote and revive Puglia’s cultural heritage beyond the conventional ways, using the metaverse. Puglia is known for its whitewashed hill towns, centuries-old farmland, and hundreds of kilometres of Mediterranean coastline.

As a part of this initiative, the first ‘digital library of Italian culture’ will be created using non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The first step of this operation took place on May 26 in Bari, at the Santa Teresa Dei Maschi complex.

The event on May 26 concluded with the auctioning of the non-fungible tokens and the presentation of an NFT specimen to University Rector Stefano Bronzini as a symbolic protector of this beautiful region's physical and digital culture. This is the first time in the world that the most iconic cultural works of Puglia are set to be simultaneously digitised and brought into the NFT world.

The above initiative is accompanied by the Apulian Blockchange organised by the Aldo Moro University of Bari's Department of Humanities. It is the first university event in Italy to use blockchain, NFT, metaverse, virtual reality, and gamification technologies to protect the vulnerable Apulian territory and culture.

Due to this initiative, Nunzia di Bari Vecchia and her iconic orecchiette are expected to appear in virtual reality to perpetuate the culinary tradition in an immersive manner.

Further, the Salento Pizzica plans to expand internationally via its first NFT into the digital foray. The project will be developed by leading figures from all over Italy, including Vrainers, eNFTree, Artemaestra, Cattive productions, and Lab 2.0 Hubcom. It will be conceived by Professor Giosuè Prezioso in collaboration with the Cultural Activities Management at the University of Bari.

In the words of Professor Prezioso, “this is an initiative with a high technological, cultural and civil value in the Italian academic panorama, which reinvigorates Bari, its university and Puglia as a destination for avant-garde and 4.0 culture."

As a result of this project, it will be possible to preserve Puglia's centuries-old millenary culture. It is to be noted that the culture is under threat from pathogens like the xylella bacterium, gentrification, a frugal seasonal economy, and a rapid process of cultural metabolisation. To pay tribute to the millions of olive trees that have succumbed to this slow degeneration, the xylella bacteria will be challenged in a Pacman-style video game with high recreational and educational value.

The cultural and university life of Puglia is expected to pave the way for new, more immersive digital experiences.

The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash

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