Artist and multimedia film director Yi Zhou is ready to mint the first royal non-fungible tokens, or NFT, based on the history of the House of Savoy from Italy. The digital works are made in collaboration with the descendant (not reigning) of the House of Savoy, Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, Prince of Venice.
The House of Savoy is known to play a pivotal role in the Unification of Italy, or the "Risorgimento", more than 150 years earlier. Its then king, Victor Emmanuel II, acted as a symbol of the movement. Together with the Prime Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont, Camillo Benso, known as the Count of Cavour, the revolutionary activist Giuseppe Mazzini and General Giuseppe Garibaldi, the "brain", the "heart" and the "sword" of the Risorgimento, the four men led creation. of a modern, unitary Italian state in 1871. This ended the division of the Italian peninsula into many independent city-states and papal states since the Middle Ages.
Opening ceremony of the new Parliament [Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy and the first Italian Parliament] Artist: Domenico Induno (1815-1878) | Source: Wikipedia
While more NFTs that will tell the story of House of Savoy will arrive in later stages, Zhou's initial release consists of digital avatars of Queen Marie-Josรฉ, the last Queen of Italy. Marie-Josรฉ married Prince Umberto of Italy in 1930. When World War II began, she served for a time in the Red Cross in Libya, lobbied for aid for Belgium when it was under Nazi occupation, and secretly negotiated with opponents. of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
Although they were once heroes of the Risorgimento, their descendant, the disgraced King Victor Emmanuel III, was associated with fascism and Mussolini during his reign. Under pressure from growing discontent and unpopularity from ordinary Italians, Victor Emmanuel III abdicated in 1946 after the war. Both Umberto and Marie-Josรฉ ascended to the throne, but only kept their monarchical titles for just over a month before a referendum abolished the monarchy and led to the creation of the Italian Republic.
Marie-Josรฉ, last queen of Italy | Source: Wikimedia Commons
The first part of the works consists of portraits and avatars of the late Queen, which are designed for metaverse interactions. Additionally, a portion of the proceeds from NFT sales will be donated to charities supported by the House of Savoy. Artist Yi Zhou spoke to Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview about NFT's upcoming release.
Cointelegraph: Who are some of the kings and queens that will appear in these House of Savoy NFTs?
Yi Zhou: We will make a whole world; We will start with Marie-Josรฉ, who will be the first figure we will promote. Because it has an interesting story that is really intertwined with [fighting] fascism [during WWII]. It was an interesting turning point in the history of Italy. So I felt it was interesting to dig a little deeper into that.
CONNECTICUT: How exactly will they play a role in the Metaverse? Will players be able to say, visit a digital Quirinal Palace? [former official residence of Italian monarchs] besides interacting with the avatars?
AND Z: Yes, I think this is the purpose, to be able to create exclusive assets around these people and also places that can be recreated and that people have an experience. And I like the contrast between royalty and places with [versus] the NFT world. It's an interesting clash.
CONNECTICUT: There are many means of expression for the artwork; What inspired you to launch your artworks as NFT?
AND Z: I just think it is going to be the future, to be able to work in those media and offer something exclusive to the buyer. I've seen the auctions recently, you know, the Christie's auctions the other day; the piece that sold for $ 29 million. I see many friends of mine [including] artists in China too, like [performance and contemporary artist] Zhang Huan, who is also important in promoting the NFT world.
CONNECTICUT: Do you plan to incorporate your future artworks as NFT?
AND Z: Yes, I think the idea of โโbuilding such a world is to explore and continue to grow, to generate a whole universe around it.
CONNECTICUT: What motivated you, in particular, to focus on telling the story of Queen Maria Josรฉ and the House of Savoy?
AND Z: It's from my relationship with the Italian prince [Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia] and his wife [Princess Clotilde Courau]. We have been friends for many years. I met them through Diane von Fรผrstenberg; she is a fashion designer. I met her at a flash mob in Paris. I was one of his special guests, along with the Princess. [Clotilde Courau] and another journalist named Mademoiselle [Miss] Agnes. We were dancing and I felt the princess rub against me and I thought she wanted to be friends. She gives me her number, introduced me to her husband, and we shot two commercials together. This included a piece with [actor] Jackie Chan for the United Nations on climate change. And in Rome, with him and her, we shot a commercial with Persol sunglasses. I wanted to film them because that was the moment Prince William and Kate Middleton got married, as I felt there was a lot of attention for royalty. Of course they [Prince Filiberto and Princess Courau] They are no longer members of the reigning royalty, but I still thought it was interesting to bring them into this world.
So we became friends and we kept in touch ever since. We made a clothing brand together, called Global Intuition. And now we have been developing the Royal House of Savoy project since 2019. It took us a long time to brainstorm because [The Royal House of Savoy] have a thousand years of history. So I wanted to know exactly what part we can focus on. After studying all the [inaudible], HBO series, Netflix shows and me and the prince [working together] - Prince for Christmas, Prince in the castle, with bookshelves! I thought it was interesting to build something, starting in a closer part of history, and then we can always go back in time and go back to the Renaissance and other periods. They have been through so many catastrophes and I think it will be very compelling to tell their stories. It will be a story that the Prince wants to tell the world.
CONNECTICUT: Would you like to include a mission statement about your artwork and how crypto / NFT can help you achieve it?
AND Z: Yes, I was actually invited to an event in the world of cryptocurrencies a couple of years ago. It was started by the founder of this auction house in Italy who is modeled after charity. And they wanted me to be the ambassador for their artwork. But I took care of my brand and other projects and I had to retire. Now, however, it is interesting to see this [NFTs] growing trend, and I hope to contribute to it through my voice and imagination and IPs [intellectual properties] We are going to create.
Director Yi Zhou | Source: Yi Zhou
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