NEW TYPES OF MUSEUMS NOT ACCEPTABLE BY ACADEMICS: POP-UP MUSEUMS AND NFT MUSEUM

 
One of our museologist academics who also contributed to the construction of many museums and one of the active names in ICOM, stated that she never thought of Pop-Up museums in the category of museums and refused to teach about them within the scope of master's program courses. She doesn't even mention NFT and museums anyway. Do you think that academics' rejection of a type of museum category is reason enough to ignore that type of museum? Of course not. We started talking like Graham Hancock in the Ancient Apocalypse series. Why might some museum categories have difficulty gaining acceptance? What depends on the acceptance of a museum's genre? Based on the data, we mentioned that there are over 104,000 museums in the world. This number is increasing and there are various categories of museums in the world. Do you know the types and categories of museums? Even if you knew by now, new types of museums are still emerging, for example, have you ever heard of the world's first NFT Museum? As museologists, we explore new types of museums that arouse curiosity. Pop-Up Museums are seen as temporary exhibition spaces, but they have become one of the most visited museum types of the new generation. The main reasons for this are that it is not a type of museum that comes to mind first. Being different, following the current, adapting to social media... Seeing 'color' in the museum. They are attracted to the fact that they do not see the 'Please do not touch' warnings and can use any area. It is not wise to ignore a type of museum that is frequently visited, on the contrary, it would be appropriate to consider it as a visitor-oriented museum type.
(Cover Photograph: Exhibition collaboration of SOLANA HACKER HOUSE X SNFTM, seattlenftmuseum.pixieset.com)

Let's consider museum categories (Types of museums that come to everyone's mind first) :

• Arboretums, Botanical Gardens and Nature Centers, Art Museums, Children's Museums, Historical Societies, Historic Preservation and Historic Houses and Sites, History Museums, Unclassified and General Museums, Natural History and Natural Science Museums, Science and Technology Museums and Planetariums, Zoos, Aquariums and Wildlife Conservation.

And some other types of museums (Although the list may seem long, there are some deficiencies even here):

• Aeronautical museums, Agricultural museums, Anatomical museums, Anthropological museums and collections, Aquariums, Arboretums, Archaeological museums and collections, Architectural museums, Art museums, Astronautical museums, Astronomical museums, Botanical gardens, Cabinets of curiosities, Children's museums, College museums, College art museums, College science museums, Commercial museums, Community museums, Costume museums, Dance museums, Dime museums, Ethnological museums and collections, Geographical museums, Geological museums, Halls of fame, Historic house museums, Historic farms, Historical museums, Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Museums, Industrial museums, Interactive science museums, International museums, Jewish museums, Literary museums, Maritime museums, Medical museums, Military museums, Mineralogical museums, Music museums, National museums, Natural history museums, Naval museums, Numismatic museums, Open-air museums, Pathological museums, Pharmaceutical museums, Photography museums, Planetariums, Postal museums, Railroad museums, Safety museums, School museums, Science museums, Sculpture galleries, Small museums, Sports museums, Textile museums, Transportation museums, Virtual museums, Waxworks, Zoological museums, Zoos.

So what about Sports Museums, Pop-Up Museums (has been visited by around half a million people thus far), NFT Museum(s) and Futuristic Museums. Subtle hint taken, right? NFT Museums is not a type of museum we come across frequently, we currently have information about several NFT Galleries and Seattle NFT Museum. We are also aware of the fact that museums we already know buy them for the NFT collection. For topics related to NFT and Museums, legal process, curatorial process and conservation, we recommend that you take a look at NFT 101 prepared by LACMA's (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) Art + Technology Lab.

Leading countries worldwide with the highest number of museums 2021, Statista

Look at United States, it looks like they are opening museums uncontrollably. Considering the electricity, energy and carbon footprints of each museum.

According to UNESCO, the United States recorded the highest number of museums globally, with approximately 33,082 institutions as of March 2021. Germany and Japan followed on the list, with around 6,741 and 5,738 institutions, respectively. Overall, the current estimated total number of museums worldwide is nearly 104 thousand. The categorization (or classification) changes as museums alter from showing only permanent collections to becoming modern entertainment centers which includes presentations of exciting temporary exhibitions as well as artistic and other performances. What about new types of museums like NFT Museums?

The idea of ​​the NFT Museum is visitor-oriented at some point for sure. But could this be... artist oriented? There are artists from many parts of the world making NFT Art, and it's clear they need a museum to display their works. It is unlikely that mainstream museums will immediately accept them to buy their collections, but there should be such a museum that a museum focused on their NFT art is not a museum with NFT Collection, in addition to its own collection. That's why the Seattle NFT Museum caught our attention. We did not see an NFT focused -only NFT focused- museum, apart from them.
In January 2022, the world's first NFT Museum opened in Seattle: Seattle NFT Museum. UK's first NFT Gallery was opened too: Quantus Gallery. So what does the Seattle NFT Museum aim for and what does it exhibit? Artists' NFT curations are displayed on screens throughout the 3,000 square foot exhibition space. The Seattle NFT Museum is designed to bring together artists, creators, collectors, and the broader blockchain community.   

The imagination of NFT artists and creators is thrilling. We wanted to create a space to serve the NFT community while helping put Seattle on the map as a hub for NFT and Blockchain innovation. We’re not experts, and we’re here to learn as much as anyone. That is why we are counting on the feedback and support of NFT enthusiasts to continue growing the vision.

- Jennifer Wong, Cofounder, Seattle NFT Museum

The collections and protections of the museums are also evolving by adapting to the contemporary. It seems that these new types of museums will require new conservation and restoration strategies and laboratories. For example, can a person who does not like or know technology work at the NFT Museum, even if this person is a collectors expert? What technical competencies are required to preserve the NFT Museum collections? New collections, new types of museums raise many questions for us as museologists. You cannot make progress by ignoring new types of museums, right?