The Toledo Museum of Art recently announced the acquisition of Abyssinian Queen by the web3 artist collective Yatreda ያጥሬዳ. The purchase of this one-of-one NFT was conducted using the stablecoin USDC, making this a rare instance of a major institution utilizing cryptocurrency for an acquisition. The digital artwork was created from a single-channel video and was displayed as part of the House of Yatreda immersive installation, which was on view at the museum until November 10, 2024.

Abyssinian Queen was conceived by the collective Yatreda as a homage to the legendary queens of ancient Ethiopia, imbuing with life the rich history and folklore that has been passed down throughout the generations, preserving in perpetuity this cultural memory on the blockchain. This piece belongs to a series of images bearing the same name and represents the collective's departure from recorded Ethiopian history, drawing instead from the region's cultural memory and the childhood imaginings of Kiya Tadele, founder and creative director of Yatreda ያጥሬዳ, and her sister, Roman Tadele. The image was executed in Yatreda's signature slow-motion, black-and-white format, showcasing the queen's journey through the land, accompanied by her devoted entourage and armed guards.

Yatreda ያጥሬዳ, Royal Dressing Room, 2024. Courtesy of the artists

The Toledo Museum of Art has positioned the acquisition of this piece as a significant addition to its burgeoning digital art collection, establishing a meaningful connection to its historic holdings, while simultaneously contributing to its policy of supporting the evolving digital arts ecosystem. As such, this acquisition paves the way for the diversification of the museum's expanding digital art collection, with the decision to use cryptocurrency lending transparency to the process.

Although the acquisition of Abyssinian Queen by Yatreda ያጥሬዳ is certainly a novel step by a major art museum, it is not without precedent: the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna made headlines in 2015 when it purchased Event Listeners, a piece by Harm van den Dorpel, using Bitcoin. Another piece from Yatreda's Abyssinian Queen series was auctioned by Christie's 3.0 on December 4, 2024, ultimately selling for 12.86 ETH.

For more on Yatreda's work, visit their site. For more information about this landmark museum acquisition, visit the Toledo Art Museum site.

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