The fusion between traditional and digital art keeps growing stronger, and the Knights Who Say Nah minting historical artifacts as non-fungible tokens is the latest testament to this. The collective aims to restore artifacts by tying them to the blockchain, consequently, bringing more people into Web3 with historical artifact preservation.
The group was launched in 2021 by Nick Richey in collaboration with Katherine Peng, Colin McDonnell, and Jack Compton. They have managed to secure a location in Los Angeles that serves as its restoration center, where visitors can find all sorts of artifacts like medieval swords and armor and so on.
According to Richey, the goal is to restore artifacts to their rightful owners, such as museums and cultural heritage organizations, for preservation purposes so that people can visit and learn about them, while compensating private collectors fairly.
This is exactly what the Knight Who Say Nah is trying to do with its latest project involving a Japanese samurai tanto. This samurai short sword is special as it was the first to be traditionally crafted after US forces occupying Japan banned sword making in 1945. The sword was gifted to Walton Walker, a U.S. Army General, after the end of World War 2.
Knights Who Say Nah Mission To Preserve History
Richey and his team approached the Metropolitan Museum and asked if there was a Japanese artifact they would like to have on their display but didn’t have access to. That’s when they pointed to the samurai tanto.
The next step was approaching the former army general with a proposition. After which, they made a 3D scan of the artifact and minted it as an Ethereum NFT, which when sold, will see all proceeds used to compensate the general. However, the general has to give up the real artifact so that it can be given back where it belongs. In this case, it will be donated to the Metropolitan Museum.
Thanks to such efforts, Knights Who Say Nah is gaining relevance, chiefly due to their ability to onboard people into Web3 with the practical use case of preserving history. On top of this, Richey believes there are more Web3 use cases to explore for his collective, such as using the artifacts in gaming and so on.
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Basil is an avid fan of blockchain technology and all its innovations, and he is passionate about sharing this narrative with his audience. He has spent over five years in the crypto space, specializing in research and creating Web3 content for various media outlets around the globe.
