Museums on-chain? A designerly contribution in the development of blockchain-based digital strategies in cultural institutions

Blockchain technologies have been referred to as potential drivers for paradigm shifts in the arts and cultural sector. Their multiple applications in the cultural and creative industries have recently started to be discussed by scholars, mainly coming from social and computer science disciplines. From crypto collectibles for archiving and documentation, to rights management and digital protection, fundraising and decentralization purposes: the potential use cases of blockchain technologies are varied, so as are varied the actors in the cultural and creative ecosystems that have started experimenting with these disruptive technologies. Nevertheless, despite the turmoil experienced from the practitioners’ side, cultural institutions remain largely sceptical about the expected benefit. Museums refrain from engaging with decentralized technologies like blockchain due to their perception of the numerous risks involved, as well as to the inevasible barriers to entry. The present paper relies on the hypothesis that design knowledge, methods, and tools may foster the envisioning of valuable applications of blockchain technologies within cultural institutions, and museums. It includes a systematic review of blockchain technologies use cases in cultural institutions, and the preliminary results from a set of semi-structured interviews to practitioners active in the implementation of blockchain in cultural institutions. To discuss the results, the work aims to reckon on design knowledge to stimulate reflection on alternative, and future-oriented ways of experiencing culture and cultural assets, providing museums and their stakeholders with a fulfilling cultural experience and with novel revenue sources through blockchain.