Future Art Ecosystems 3: Art x Decentralised Tech

Future Art Ecosystems (FAE) annual strategic briefing series was born out of a need to inform organisational development in the arts, and specifically around ecosystem design for art and advanced technologies (AxAT). While there is a rich dialogue around art’s critical interventions into contemporary technologies such as AI, blockchain and immersive technologies, and their mainstream narratives, a dedicated focus on operational and infrastructural conditions for supporting and developing AxAT has been largely lacking.

FAE3 identifies new patterns for organisational and creative innovation within the broader space of decentralised technologies, variably dubbed as ‘web3’, ‘crypto’ and ‘dweb’. Through a series of interviews with specialists across art, web3, crypto, dweb, innovation policy and civic, the briefing articulates various horizons for reconfiguring how practitioners and the cultural sector at large can operationalise production, distribution and financial support systems. FAE3 formulates a series of prospective strategies for existing and new cultural organisations interested in AxAT and the latter’s role in supporting resilient democratic societies.

FAE3 is produced in collaboration with Gary Zhexi Zhang, with contributions by Harm van den Dorpel and Sarah Friend. We thank our advisors Seb Chan, Maria Paula Fernandez, Aslak Aamot Helm, Sophie Netchaef, Katrina Sluis, and Rival Strategy.