The Aldo Moro University of Bari in Italy has launched an interesting initiative aimed at reinvigorating and enhancing Puglia’s cultural heritage in other ways, thanks to the use of the metaverse.  

Puglia’s cultural works enter the metaverse

For the first time in the world, the most iconic cultural works of Puglia will be simultaneously digitized and brought into the NFT world. Among the various works, the first “digital library of Italian culture” will be created using Non-Fungible Tokens. The operation took place in Bari on 26 May in the Santa Teresa dei Maschi complex.

This represents the beginning of an epochal turning point. Culture, as well as university life, will open the door to new, more immersive digital experiences. 

Blockchain technology is changing the way of thinking and reinventing existing processes, giving rise to a parallel universe, a world that is certainly more inclusive in many respects.

Staying in the university sphere, many aspects will be revolutionized over time. Lectures, courses, conferences, meetings and orientation activities will have a new lease of life, but will also retain their traditional appearance and usefulness. 

Technological innovation has always been at the heart of human evolution and as such, one must be able to exploit only the positive aspects, without losing touch with reality. 

It is thanks to this idea that the fantastic and disruptive project devised by the University of Bari achieves this. 

The iconic Nunzia of Bari Vecchia and its famous orecchiette will land in Virtual Reality to raise the cooking tradition in immersive mode. Not to be left out is the pizzica of Salento, which will experience its first venture into digital with the first NFT, to become increasingly international.

Apulian Blockchange: the event that will promote the initiative  

All this is accompanied by the Apulian Blockchange event, promoted by the university itself, specifically by the Department of Humanities. First of its kind, it employs blockchain to bring NFTs, metaverse, virtual reality and gamification to life. Together, all these applications are aimed at preserving Puglia’s culture and vulnerable territory.

Conceived by Professor Giosuè Prezioso, in collaboration with the master class in Cultural Activities Management at the University of Bari, the project will be developed by leading figures from all over Italy: Vrainers, eNFTree, Artemaestra, Cattive Productions and Lab 2.0 Hubcom.

All these names are specialized in the creation of digital products. The digitization of these assets will serve to revisit the main cultural elements of Puglia, in order to crystallize them into digital works. 

Thanks to this practice, it will be possible to preserve the centuries-old, millenary culture of this region, which is exposed to pathogens such as the xylella bacterium, gentrification, a frugal seasonal economy and a fast process of cultural metabolization. 

To dedicate a moment to the millions of olive trees that have fallen victim to this slow degradation, it will be possible to challenge the xylella bacterium in a pacman-style video game with a high recreational and educational value.  

The event will end with the auctioning of the Non-Fungible Tokens and the handing over of an NFT specimen to University Rector Stefano Bronzini, as a symbolic protector of the physical and digital culture of this beautiful region.

Professor Prezioso, with satisfaction and pride, points out that:

“An initiative with a high technological, cultural and civil value in the Italian academic panorama, which reinvigorates Bari, its university and Pugila, as a destination for avant-garde and 4.0 culture”.