The auction revenue will be destined for the Liliesleaf Farm Museum, devoted to the history of the fight against apartheid, so that it reopens its doors.
Le Monde with AFP
An NFT version of an arrest warrant against the South African icon Nelson Mandela allowed to harvest 130,550 dollars (approximately 119 000 euros) on a bidding for auction for a museum. on the history of the fight against apartheid. The first Black President of South Africa was arrested on August 5, 1962, and imprisoned for twenty-seven years.
The price of reserve during the auction, Saturday, March 26 at Cape Town, was 900,000 rand (56,000 euros), but non-fungible tokens (NFT) “were sold 1.9 million rand by An online buyer, “said Sunday at AFP Ahren Posthumus, CEO of the MOMINT digital auction platform. “NFT Mandela’s revenues will go to the Liliesleaf Museum to keep its doors open and boosted”, “he said. Liliesleaf Farm closed in September 2021 due to financial difficulties.
The sale of art works in the form of NFT uses the same technology as cryptomonnies such as bitcoin. The buyer receives a verified digital token that proves that the artwork is an original. “It’s really a unique and new way to generate revenue,” said AFP Nicholas Wolpe, founder of the Liliesleaf Farm Museum.
The original document, dated 1961, today yellowed and carrying staple holes on one side, is written by hand in English and Afrikaans. It is kept at the archives of the Liliesleaf Farm Museum in Johannesburg for about 2006, according to Mr. Wolpe.
Between 1961 and 1963, the farm, located in an upscale suburb of Johannesburg, served as a secret headquarters at the African National Congress (ANC), then prohibited, in the fight against the domination of the white minority. Mandela hidden there for a time, disguised in agricultural worker dressed in a overall, before gathering funds for her cause abroad.