DRAMMEN, OSLO, NORWAY — This October, a quiet convergence of sub-micron laser engineering and extreme polar storage is setting a revolutionary new standard for global cultural resilience. Spearheaded by the visionary leadership of Marco Antonio Soriano, CEO of Arius Europe, in a groundbreaking partnership with Rune Bjerkestrand, CEO of the Arctic World Archive (AWA), ultra-high-resolution Art Digital Master Files (ADMFs) are being deposited deep inside a decommissioned coal mine in the demilitarized permafrost of Svalbard, Norway.
Caption: Arctic World Archive Main Entrance in Svalbard
Following this historic Arctic deposit, Soriano will bring this 1,000-year vision from the freezing depths of Svalbard to the glittering heart of the French Riviera. As a distinguished member of Club Vivanova, Soriano will host a selected number of collectors, cultural leaders, and VIPs at the prestigious Club Vivanova Royal Charity Gala this November in Monaco.
Held under the High Patronage and Presence of H.S.H. Princess Stéphanie of Monaco—a globally recognized patron of the arts—the gala will serve as the exclusive global showcase for the future of fine art preservation, while raising vital funds for two remarkable Monegasque charities: Fight Aids Monaco and Écoute Cancer Réconfort.
A Visionary Alliance: Soriano and Bjerkestrand
Physical masterpieces across museums and private galleries face unprecedented threats from climate shifts, natural disasters, and geopolitical conflict. Every painting carries fragile, irreplaceable stories told by the height of an impasto peak, the stress cracks in old varnish, and the distinct pressure of an artist’s brush.
Recognizing this global imperative, Soriano aligned with AWA leadership, including Rune Bjerkestrand, to pioneer an absolute failsafe.
Caption: Arius Chief Revenue Officer, Patrick Bruce-Lockhart (left) and CEO of Arius EU, Marco Antonio Soriano (back right) meeting the AWA Leadership team in Norway: Rune Bjerkestrand (right), Katrine Loen (middle) and Bendik Bryde (left).
Under the leadership of Marco Antonio Soriano, CEO of Arius Europe, the company is rapidly expanding its European footprint to serve major cultural capitals, museums, and private collections across the continent.
“Europe holds a vast portion of the world’s most endangered physical masterpieces. Our goal in the EU is to establish a standardized digital safety net…,” states Marco Antonio Soriano. “In an increasingly unpredictable world, backing up human creativity requires structural precision and visionary partnerships. By pairing our sub-micron scanning capabilities with Rune’s incredible work at the Arctic World Archive, we are giving fine art an unalterable digital refuge. It ensures that no matter what transpires on the surface, the physical truth of global heritage remains protected for centuries.”
Capturing the True Topography of Fine Art
Traditional digital archiving relies on flat, high-resolution photography, capturing color while losing the three-dimensional soul of an object. Arius takes a radically different approach. Using proprietary, non-contact 3D laser scanning, Arius measures canvas and panel surfaces at a sub-micron scale.
Caption: Arius’ Moneta system scanning Piero della Francesca’s iconic Renaissance masterpiece, The Resurrection.
The resulting “Art Digital Master File” acts as a digital twin of an artwork. By mapping the exact color, geometry, and surface elevation down to 10 microns (one hundredth of a millimeter), each Arius scan safely captures the physical truth of an artwork without ever touching its surface. While Arius ADMF™ data is digitally stored with the most stringent security protocols, this partnership presents the ultimate solution for protecting the world’s most precious assets.
When transferred to the PiQl’s specialized, light-sensitive silver-halide ‘Piqlfilm’, Arius’ sub-micron data is rendered immutable. Stored hundreds of meters inside the Arctic permafrost, the AWA archives require no electricity to remain stable and are protected from cyber threats, electromagnetic pulses, and extreme environmental fluctuations for over 1,000 years.
Restorative Precision for the Future
Beyond catastrophe insurance, the integration of sub-micron scan data into long-term polar storage opens practical applications for conservation and art historical research:
- Sub-Micron Topography: Documents paint layers, craquelure patterns, and surface relief in absolute structural detail, providing an undeniable record of authenticity and physical condition.
- Absolute Geopolitical Security: Stored in an unhackable, offline facility within a neutral international territory, data remains completely isolated from digital warfare and systemic power failures.
- Diagnostic & Restorative Utility: Provides future conservators, curators, and researchers with precise structural data to monitor physical degradation over time or assist in high-fidelity restoration efforts.
As fine art shifts into an era of physical objects requiring permanent digital backups, Arius’ upcoming Arctic deposit establishes a concrete standard: preserving not just how art looks, but the stories it holds and the way it was created.
From Preservation to High-Society Celebration
As fine art shifts into an era requiring permanent digital backups, Arius’ Arctic deposit establishes the new gold standard. But the technological triumph is only half the story.
At the upcoming Club Vivanova Royal Charity Gala, Soriano will unveil the magnitude of this achievement to the world’s elite. The event itself will be hosting hundreds of guests, Soriano and the Arius executive team will provide attendees with first-hand insight into how sub-micron scanning is transforming both art conservation and luxury asset stewardship. It is an exclusive opportunity for the world’s top collectors to understand how their own private collections can be immortalized.
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About Arius Technology
Arius Technology is a global leader in fine art digital preservation and high-precision 3D optical scanning. By capturing fine art at a sub-micron level, Arius records the precise surface topography and color profile of masterworks without physical contact. Arius collaborates with leading museums, private collections, galleries, and institutions to digitize, protect, and unlock new dimensions of cultural heritage.
About the Arctic World Archive (AWA)
Located deep within the demilitarized permafrost of Svalbard, Norway, the Arctic World Archive (AWA) is a safe, offline, unhackable repository dedicated to preserving humanity’s collective memory, culture, and digital data for centuries. Established in 2017 and operating as an independent foundation, the AWA safeguards valuable digital assets from around the globe—including world masterpieces, ancient manuscripts, open-source code, and national archives—using specialized, light-sensitive silver-halide film, designed and created by Piql, to endure for over 1,000 years without reliance on electricity or software dependencies. For more information, visit www.arcticworldarchive.org.
Contacts:
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LinkedIn (Marco Antonio Soriano): https://www.linkedin.com/in/masoriano/
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