Source:
Department
of
Justice
/
buzzfeed
An
ultra-rare
album
by
the
Wu-Tang
Clan
is
now
on
display
for
fans—but
only
in
a
museum
in
Australia.
Source:
Department
of
Justice
/
buzzfeed
According
to
reports,
the
rare
Wu-Tang
Clan
album
Once
Upon
a
Time
In
Shaolin
will
be
made
available
to
the
public
for
the
first
time
since
its
creation
nine
years
ago.
The
catch?
It
will
be
on
display
in
a
museum
in
Tasmania,
Australia.
The
Museum
of
Old
and
New
Art
(MONA)
has
announced
that
it
will
be
on
display
as
part
of
its
“Namedropping”
exhibition,
highlighting
some
of
the
world’s
most
captivating
musicians
and
artists.
The
exhibition
will
run
from
June
15
to
June
24,
with
the
Wu-Tang
Clan
exhibit
available
twice
daily
from
Friday
to
Monday.
“Every
once
in
a
while,
an
object
on
this
planet
possesses
mystical
properties
that
transcend
its
material
circumstances,”
Jarrod
Rawlins,
Director
of
Curatorial
Affairs
at
MONA,
said
in
a
press
statement.
“Once
Upon
a
Time
in
Shaolin
is
more
than
just
an
album,
so
when
I
was
thinking
about
status,
and
what
a
transcendent
namedrop
could
be,
I
knew
I
had
to
get
it
into
this
exhibition.”
Visitors
will
also
get
to
listen
to
the
album
in
specially
curated
30-minute
mixes
and
at
private
listening
parties
at
the
institution’s
Frying
Pan
Studios.
There
will
be
a
limited
amount
of
free
tickets
available
for
visitors.
Once
Upon
a
Time
In
Shaolin,
produced
in
secrecy,
was
announced
as
a
one-of-a-kind
mission
to
“put
out
a
piece
of
art
like
nobody
else
has
done
in
the
history
of
[modern]
music,”
as
stated
by
The
RZA
in
an
interview
with
Forbes
in
2014.
The
album
would
go
up
for
auction
in
2015,
where
it
would
be
purchased
by
the
controversial
Martin
Shkreli
aka
“Pharma
Bro”
for
$2
million,
making
Once
Upon
a
Time
In
Shaolin
among
the
most
expensive
albums
ever
sold.
Shkreli
would
have
the
album
seized
by
the
Department
of
Justice
as
he
was
convicted
of
securities
fraud.
The
DOJ
would
then
sell
it
to
the
digital
art
collective
Pleasr
in
2021.
“With
this
single
work
of
art,
the
Wu-Tang
Clan’s
intention
was
to
redefine
the
meaning
of
music
ownership
and
value
in
a
world
of
digital
streaming
and
commodification
of
music.
Pleasr
is
honored
to
partner
with
Mona
to
support
RZA’s
vision
for
Once
Upon
a
Time
in
Shaolin,”
the
group
said
in
a
statement.
