IN-PERSON ISTANBUL HERITAGE(S)
Abstract
The growing adoption of blockchain technologies has positioned Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) as novel mechanisms for establishing authenticity, provenance, and ownership in the digital art market. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 23 artists, 14 institutions, and 10 galleries within Türkiye’s art scene, we find that although NFTs have lost much of their initial popularity following the peak of market hype and are often viewed with skepticism in terms of artistic value, their function as certificates of authenticity continues to be recognized as a significant and enduring use case. Despite this perceived potential, their practical application in Turkish museums remains limited, pointing to a gap between conceptual relevance and institutional adoption. Building on these findings, we propose that NFTs can be employed by both art and heritage institutions as tools for certifying the authenticity of artefacts, enhancing collection inventory management, and supporting the long-term preservation of associated knowledge in digital environments. By linking physical and digital records through blockchain-based systems, NFTs may contribute to more secure, transparent, and interoperable documentation practices. Such an approach may also facilitate broader public access to cultural heritage through the reliable and transparent dissemination of collection data, including the migration of museum collections and exhibitions into the metaverse using Web3 infrastructure. Evidently, there exist certain challenges associated with this approach, including legal uncertainties, ethical concerns, technological barriers, and environmental implications. We argue that while NFTs offer promising opportunities, their integration into heritage contexts requires a cautious and context-sensitive framework.
Artist, curator and researcher İpek Yeğinsü is a graduate of I.M.I. Liceo Scientifico Italiano in Istanbul, Koç University Department of International Relations (B.A., 2004) and Anatolian Civilizations and Cultural Heritage Management (M.A., 2007). She received her Ph.D. from Özyeğin University Department of Design, Technology and Society in 2021. In 2022-2024, she worked as a Visiting Scholar at Kadir Has University, where she coordinates the Tübitak 3501 project “Examining the Impact of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on Turkey’s Visual Art Scene Using T. F. Gieryn’s Concept of ‘Boundary-work’”.
Aylin Sunam Audry completed her PhD research titled “Muslim Women’s New Forms of Dating and Marriage: Marriage Sites in Turkey” at Galatasaray University and Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne University joint programs. She served as the coordinator for the Tübitak Bideb 2219 project “Mapping the Digital Diaspora: Exploring the Digital Media Use and Practices of Second and Third Generation Immigrants of Turkey in France with an Intersectional Approach” and the Tübitak 3501 project “Investigation of Turkish Youth’s Partner Selection Practices through Location-Based Mobile Applications”.
Sendi Çağlıyor graduated with a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Koç University, an M.B.A., and a Ph.D. in Marketing from Istanbul Bilgi University. Her work focuses on computational social science and social marketing, focusing on applications of natural language processing and machine learning. She has contributed to multiple interdisciplinary research initiatives and published in journals such as the Journal of Telematics and Informatics and International Journal of Consumer Studies
Sercan Gündoğar is a Ph.D. candidate in Communication Studies at Kadir Has University. He received his bachelor’s degree in Photography and Video from Bahçeşehir University and then studied Fine Arts. He was a Ph.D. scholarship holder in the TÜBİTAK project “TV Series: A Comparative Perspective – From Geopolitics to Geocriticism Serbia and Turkey.” His research interests include aesthetics of everyday life, institutional theory, visual studies, and digital and media arts.
Delal Şahin is a researcher and academic. She lectured at various universities and institutions. She has participated in European Union projects conducted in Slovenia and Romania. She is the creator and conductor of the Moving Image and Theory Seminars at Istanbul Bilgi University, which explore the relation between images and fields such as philosophy, ethics and aesthetics. She currently continues her work in academia and independently.
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Wednesday 8th July, 2026