– We are entering an unknown landscape – E24

Old art meets new technology when the Scandinavian Bible Museum in Oslo displays digital art, known as NFT, made up of 3D Bibles.

“NFT Bibles may be an unexpected combination, but we hope it creates great magic when you can now experience the high-tech 3D versions,” says General Manager and Bible Assembler Ron Arnhoff.

The museum also claims to be the first in the world to perform such a stunt.

We are entering a somewhat new and unfamiliar scene, says Arnhoff.

Never lose faith

The NFT market was buzzing at the same time as the cryptocurrency boom, but, like the crypto market, it has plummeted in value over the past six months. When the accident occurred, the museum was in full swing at work, not letting it get in the way of its completion.

We still believe in it, says Arnhoff.

The director of the museum sees the downturn in the NFT market as a kind of cleanup, as many non-serious projects may disappear.

– Then perhaps he is the one that remains in the best quality, he says, and assures that a lot of work has been done, including thousands of photo shoots, to create digital artworks from the Bible.

big money?

When the NFT market was at its peak, hundreds of millions of kroner worth of business were sold.

The most expensive Bible NFTs for the Nordic Bible Museum start around NOK 90,000, but the final price depends on the bids received.

The business is traded in the cryptocurrency ethereum, and comes in a six-piece version. But simpler NFT Bible forms were also made at about NOK 600.

Immediately after the launch this week, only the least rare works were sold out. However, Arnhoff has higher hopes when they head next week to markets in England and the USA, where interest in NFT and Bible combinations is greater.

An added bonus for those who buy the rarest works is that they can come in once a year and look at the ancient physical scriptures from which they bought a 3D digital copy.

I hope it creates magic

“We want to create projects and products that go against the stereotypical associations many may have about the world of museums, bibles, and book collections,” Arnhof says.

Actual production of digital originals proved to be an intense and difficult project. Books are fragile and have a shape that changes when you move them, which requires hard work to ensure high-resolution images adapted to technology.

The collection includes books such as the Rembrandt Bible, the Soldier’s Bible from World War I, and King Christian III’s Bible edition from 1550.

Digital artwork confirms that we can freeze the zeitgeist in books and thus preserve quality over time, says Arnhoff.