Authenticity

By Nguyễn Đặng Tuấn Minh

Over the years of observing innovation models, I have always been fascinated by how industries seemingly “far” from technology—such as art and culture—are often the ones that transform most dramatically when data and digital platforms are introduced. Two leading global art startups, Vastari and Arteïa, provide clear proof: art does not need to compromise its identity to modernize; on the contrary, technology opens up new business structures where the value of artworks, memory, and heritage can grow in ways traditional models never allowed.

The remarkable aspect of these two models is not the technology they use, but how they redefine the flow of value in the art ecosystem: who owns, who connects, who benefits, and what can be created when data becomes a common language.

Vastari – When Exhibitions Become a Value-Sharing Network
Vastari started by addressing a very “everyday” problem in the museum sector: too many artworks remain idle in storage, while many organizations want to host exhibitions but lack connections, information, and transparent mechanisms for collaboration.

What sets Vastari apart is that it does not see itself as just a technology platform, but as an infrastructure that builds trust between museums, collectors, artists, and exhibition partners. Technology is only a tool to achieve three things:

1. Deeply understand the needs and constraints of all stakeholders—something only those immersed in the sector can truly grasp.
2. Transform exhibition knowledge into structured data and use algorithms to match thousands of exhibitions with hundreds of thousands of objects worldwide.
3. Develop intelligent logistics mechanisms, optimizing the journey of delicate and complex artworks in terms of time, cost, and risk.

Once an artwork enters Vastari’s network, it ceases to be a “static” asset in storage. It becomes a circulating asset, continuously used, shared, exhibited, and gaining value at every touchpoint.

This is a mindset that Vietnamese cultural startups should embrace: heritage only truly lives when it moves through the ecosystem and reaches multiple communities.

Arteïa – When Artwork Value Relies on Transparency, Not Promises
Unlike Vastari, Arteïa addresses a different pain point in the art market: authenticity. In a world where artworks can be forged, swapped, or subjectively priced, blockchain, NFC, and AI are not trends—they are tools to restore the art market’s most important foundation: trust.

Arteïa’s uniqueness lies in its natural linking of physical and digital objects. An artwork with an NFC chip, blockchain record, transaction history, artistic context, and valuation data is no longer just “a beautiful painting”; it becomes a digital entity that can be traced, verified, and traded globally.

With each artwork carrying a “digital passport,” Arteïa opens a transparent art market where P2P transactions no longer rely on intermediaries, artists are protected from value theft, and collectors do not buy or sell based on vague trust.

This clearly demonstrates: art does not lose its poetry when fitted with an NFC chip; it is merely better protected in the chaotic global market.

Shared Lessons for Vietnamese Art Startups
What makes Vastari and Arteïa leaders is not just their technology but their vision of data as infrastructure for art. Both see art as an ecosystem driven by three key elements:

1. Data – establishing trust and allowing value to grow over time.
2. Technology – a tool to expand markets beyond geographic boundaries.
3. Collaboration and sharing – no startup can own the entire art value chain, which is highly symbiotic.

For Vietnamese culture and heritage to enter sustainable business models, it is not enough to simply exhibit, tell stories, or sell experiences. We must ask questions like they do:

How will this heritage increase in value through each loop of data?

Who does it need to collaborate with to live longer and reach farther?

What kind of “digital infrastructure” is required so the story is not broken when shared globally?

Three key takeaways:

1. Heritage thrives when connected. Touring exhibitions, object-sharing models, and taking local stories to the world all need a connecting platform like Vastari.
2. Transparency builds trust; trust builds markets. If cultural products—from traditional textiles and folk paintings to contemporary art—can be authenticated and traced like Arteïa does, we escape the “emotional selling” model.
3. Data is the “new storyteller” of art. When an artwork’s journey is fully recorded, both experiential and economic value multiply.

For Vietnamese art startups aiming to scale internationally, the most important factor is not a flashy blockchain app or Web3 platform. It is a business mindset that sees the value of heritage in continuous data flow and collaboration.

When we view art as an ecosystem rather than a product, museums as connection points rather than mere exhibition spaces, and data as a value generator rather than storage, Vietnamese art can naturally, sustainably, and authentically step onto the global stage.

References

1. Vastari & Global Exhibitions: Vastari & Own Art (2020), Future of the Art Market Report; Arts Council England (2021), Future of Touring Exhibitions.
2. Arteïa & Art Authentication: Communic’Art (2019), Arteïa Connect Makes the Link Between Artwork and Digital Certificate; PRNewswire (2019), Arteïa Launches a Peer-to-Peer Platform Using Blockchain for Trust and Liquidity in the Art Market; BCS – The Chartered Institute for IT (2021), Blockchain: The New Art House.
3. Blockchain, provenance & digital art market: McConaghy et al. (2018), Blockchain for Art Provenance: Problems & Possibilities, Ocean Protocol Research; McKinsey & Company (2022), How Can Creative Industries Benefit from Blockchain?
4. Creative economy, heritage, and digital museums: UNESCO (2022), Re|Shaping Cultural Policies; UNCTAD (2022), Creative Economy Outlook; Montague, J. (2020), Digital Heritage and Data-Driven Museums, Routledge; Parry, R. (2010), Museum in a Digital Age, Routledge; Throsby, D. (2010), Economics of Cultural Policy, Cambridge University Press.
5. Multi-sided platform & competitive advantage: Evans, D. & Schmalensee, R. (2016), Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms, Harvard Business Review Press; Osterwalder, A. & Pigneur, Y. (2010), Business Model Generation, Wiley.

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