Tezos Foundation & HEK Basel Deepen Commitment to Blockchain Art With 2026 Partnership

As museums and cultural institutions continue to grapple with how to exhibit, preserve, and contextualize digital-native art, the Tezos Foundation and HEK (House of Electronic Arts) are leaning into the challenge — together.

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The two organizations have announced a year-long partnership running through 2026, focused on advancing blockchain-based artistic practice through exhibitions, education, and long-term preservation.

The collaboration builds on a relationship that dates back to 2022, when HEK publicly embraced Web3 and blockchain as tools for expanding participation, ownership, and sustainability in digital art.

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Exhibitions Across Virtual & Physical Spaces

Two curated exhibitions will be presented on HEK’s virtual platform, virtual.hek, showcasing artists working with digital and blockchain-based practices. Each exhibition will feature at least six artists and include onchain artwork releases in partnership with objkt, one of the leading NFT platforms in the Tezos ecosystem.
 
The program also extends into the public realm. During Art Basel 2026, HEK will host an outdoor presentation at its Basel location, bringing blockchain-based art beyond institutional walls and into shared civic space.
 
Three internationally recognized curators specializing in art and technology will oversee the exhibitions, emphasizing experimentation and cross-disciplinary perspectives.

“The collaboration with the Tezos Foundation opens up new curatorial and technological possibilities for HEK. It allows us to explore experimental media art formats that transcend institutional and spatial boundaries.”

Sabine Himmelsbach, Director of HEK

Education, Access & Hands-On Learning

Beyond exhibitions, the partnership places strong emphasis on public engagement and education. 

HEK will install an on-site kiosk at its Basel venue, enabling visitors to explore the digital exhibitions and learn about blockchain-based art directly within the museum space. In parallel, in-person workshops will introduce new audiences to NFTs, blockchain technology, and digital ownership through guided, hands-on experiences.

The goal is demystification — making blockchain art accessible not just to collectors and technologists, but to general museum visitors as well.

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Preserving Digital Art for the Long Term

Through HEK’s leadership of the Software-based Art and Ownership working group within the EU COST Action European Media and Born-Digital Art Conservation and Knowledge Network (EMBARK), the collaboration will support an international training school on NFT preservation.
 
The program will be hosted at ZKM | Center for Art and Media and bring together museum professionals, conservators, and researchers from across Europe to address one of digital art’s most pressing challenges: how to preserve works that are native to software, networks, and blockchains.

“Working with HEK supports our focus on long-term museum programming and blockchain education. This partnership is about building durable foundations for future generations of artists working with technology.”

Aleksandra Artamonovskaja, Head of Art at Trilitech, Tezos’ R&D hub in London

A Broader Institutional Push for Blockchain Art

The HEK partnership reinforces Tezos Foundation’s broader strategy of supporting blockchain art within established cultural institutions. Previous collaborations include projects with the Musée d’Orsay, Serpentine, and LAS Foundation — all aimed at integrating blockchain into curatorial practice rather than treating it as a parallel ecosystem.