Opinion | Ukraine war shows the need to digitise our cultural history with NFTs before it’s too late

Name: Mariupol destruction visible from the air as Ukraine and Russia continue to fight over port city
Uploaded: 2022-05-04T05:15:18.000Z
Duration: 1 min 5 s
Description: Mariupol destruction visible from the air as Ukraine and Russia continue to fight over port city

We have the technology to protect and preserve our precious cultural heritage for generations to come

To make our shared culture preservable, we need to make it shareable, and NFTs give us this ability

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

A destroyed bust can be seen in a hall at the Museum of Local Lore that burned down after shelling in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, on April 28. Photo: AP

Hussein Hallak

Published: 1:15pm, 4 May 2022

In times of war, it is not only people who get caught in the crossfire. The shared history of entire civilisations does, too.

Items held in museums, from paintings to artefacts and sculptures, allow us to see ourselves through the lens of history. As Russian bombs continue to tear through Ukraine, it is time to use the technology we have to protect and preserve cultural artefacts as much as possible.

By using the cryptographic technology that supports NFTs, we can turn cultural artefacts into digital collector’s items that can be observed, shared and enjoyed for generations to come.

There is a reason invading armies tend to single out a nation’s culture – it shapes who we are and how we view ourselves. Take it away and you undermine our sense of self, even our right to be. Take enough away and it is easier to absorb and remake what remains.

Virtually every dictator has tried to smother their opponent’s uniqueness, with the Mongols taking the idea to new depths when they destroyed thousands of years of history and culture in their assault on Baghdad. As the legend goes, they threw so many books into the Euphrates that a soldier was able to cross the river on horseback.

01:05

Mariupol destruction visible from the air as Ukraine and Russia continue to fight over port city

The Nazis ransacked Europe’s museums and galleries during World War II. In Libya, historical sites were vandalised, looted and destroyed. The Taliban used high explosives to eradicate virtually every trace of the statues of Buddha at Bamiyan in Afghanistan.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x