The State Hermitage Museum of Russia continues to delve into the intangible tokens (NFTs) industry by opening the first fully virtual digital art exhibition.

Shortly after the first NFT auction on Binance raised over $ 400,000 in September, Hermitage is now holding a free exhibition of NFT art that only exists in cyberspace, called virtual space.

The Hermitage exhibition starts on November 10th and is called “Invisible Aether” and is based on the Metaverse concept that allows users to create digital avatars and browse the virtual website using PCs, smartphones and tablets. Smartphones, virtual reality glasses and other devices. The virtual site mimics the interior of the locally popular Old St. Petersburg Stock Exchange, but the actual exhibition has nothing to do with the transaction, according to a senior curator on the project.

“The art in the exhibition is not for sale. We avoid all issues related to the price of these works in order to focus on expressing what digital art really is, because the cost of the art is secondary to the value of the art, ”said Dimitri Ozerkov, Hermitage Contemporary Art Director, opposite Cointelegraph.

Ozerkov noted that the Hermitage will return all works of art to their original owners, including artists and collectors, once the exhibition ends on December 10th. “Other events outside the museum grounds,” he added.

At Thursday’s press conference, Ozerkov stressed that the Hermitage has “no financial interest” in hosting the free exhibition, noting that the museum was working to find out the real value of the NFTs. “We want to see what’s left of the NFT if you leave out the money aspect,” he said.

The selection of artists and works for the “Invisible Aether” exhibition was made by two curators, including Ozerkov and Anastasia Garnova, a member of the Hermitage’s contemporary art department.

“We believe curator selection is very important for a museum exhibition as it becomes more holistic in terms of themes and chapters. The selection principle is based on the importance of works of art in understanding the essence of NFT, ”Garnova told Cointelegraph. “Artists cannot apply for exhibitions,” she added.

Related: Beyond the NFT hype: creating sustainable business models for artists

The full list of artworks is available on the exhibition’s official website, with a total of 37 pieces, including CryptoKitties’ Schrödinger’s Cat, a popular blockchain game developed by Canadian studio Dapper Labs on the network. The list also includes an artwork by the Saint Petersburg-based artist named Darkzuu.

NFT platforms and key industry players such as Snark.art, Masters digital, The Art Exchange, Rarible, Superrare ,knownOrigin, ArtBlocks, Alterhen.art and OpenSea also take part in the exhibition.

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