# object.content
Helping Basel’s HEK build digital community with the world’s first tokenized museum membership

Switzerland’s HEK (House of Electronic Arts) has been the leading museumfor digital art, media, and culture since 2011. As a center of creativetechnology, HEK aims to be at the forefront of what’s relevant,willingly pushing into areas that are unknown and undefined — areas thatinclude blockchain and Web3.

Turning standard museum membership into an experiment in digital community engagement

Even though HEK had done Web3-related projects by 2023, the team had thefeeling that they were behind on the community-building potential of thetechnology. At the same time, HEK wanted to evolve its membershipprogram beyond simply offering free museum entrance for 25 francs ayear. Putting these two opportunities together, the vision for Friendsof HEK, a museum membership that gives HEK members online experiencesand decision-making power, was born.

“Friends of HEK is an attempt to break down the usual hierarchies between institution and consumer.”

Friends of HEK was going to be the biggest tech implementation HEK haddone in years. And if they pulled it off, HEK would become the firstmuseum to tokenize its membership program. HEK needed a tech developmentpartner to make their ambitious vision a reality, but not any companywould do. Beyond being a logical experiment in Web3 technology, “Friendsof HEK is an attempt to break down the usual hierarchies betweeninstitution and consumer into a community space that’s still structuredand facilitated, but where members really feel ownership,” says HEK’seducation coordinator Isabella Maund. HEK needed a partner that didn’tjust build technology, but that would do it with care.

Hypha’s culture of balanced technical expertise for the arts and culture community

HEK met with different companies specializing in Web3 development, butnone of them engaged with the museum’s mission, goals, or mindset,instead focusing only on cost. Then they spoke to Hypha, who camerecommended by HEK artist Sarah Friend.

“In the first meeting with Hypha, it was quite obvious that they werethe right partner for us as a cultural institution.”

Hypha understood HEK on a deep level. “In the first meeting with Hypha,it was quite obvious that they were the right partner for us as acultural institution,” says Ugo Pecoraio, HEK’s Head Of Communications.“They were open to new ideas and different approaches, but could alsobring art, culture, and technology together in an uncomplicated way.”

Close collaboration to get years of thinking pared down and off the ground

As the partnership kicked off, Hypha worked with HEK to condense their project proposal, which had taken HEK“months, years even, of internal discussion” to create. Identifying HEK’s key motivations meant:

Deepening the team’s Web3 knowledge beyond the basics into its technicalaspects and culture

Asking questions to uncover true needs, priorities, and hidden assumptions behind HEK’s project proposal

“It was quite refreshing for Hypha to say, ‘That’s a great idea, butmaybe we have to do it in a different way.’”

Ugo elaborates: “We had a lot of ideas that were just that — ideas, notthings that could be done fast and within budget, would let us evolve,or that really benefited the community.” Through Hypha’s process, “Wenaturally came to understand what’s possible for the community. It wasquite refreshing for Hypha to not just say, ‘That’s a stupid idea.’Instead they’d say, ‘That’s a great idea, but maybe we have to do it ina different way.’”

Guiding HEK through the challenges of introducing its community to Web3

Once the plan for Friends of HEK was finalized, it was time to build thetechnology. But every custom project comes with problems and changes.One of the issues that arose was making purchasing a Friends of HEKmembership work with HEK’s existing payment systems. Blockchains letcommunities engage in new ways, namely community voting that’s moreexperiential and transparent in Friends of HEK’s case. To unlock thesecapabilities, each Friends of HEK membership is associated with adigital asset called an NFT, which are usually purchased usingcryptocurrency. It was important to HEK, however, that members couldstill pay with “a good old credit card” in addition to Ethereum.

Animated capture from Friends of HEK's landing page

There are many providers that enable the sale of NFTs via traditional payment methods, but none of them workedwell with the payment systems HEK was already using. To find the most reliable way forward, Hypha presenteddifferent options while informing HEK about the tradeoffs they entailed so the HEK team could make the best choice.

“The Hypha team had the expertise to solve roadblocks, bothconceptually and technically, which really gave us a sense ofsecurity.”

Another challenge Hypha helped HEK navigate came from a public commentthat questioned HEK’s motivations in creating Friends of HEK. Would thedirection of the program really be decided by voters instead of themuseum? Or would the HEK team be pulling the strings? Again, the Hyphateam helped HEK think through how to approach the problem, structuresolutions, and in this case, how to handle the public messaging. As aresult, HEK ended up putting its own influence over the program up forcommunity vote. No one voted against HEK team members being able to voteor make Friends of HEK proposals, so the team was able to continue onwith confidence that it was working in harmony with the community’sinterests.

Of Hypha’s problem-solving abilities, Isabella remarks: “The Hypha teamhad the expertise to solve both conceptual and technical roadblocks,which really gave us a sense of security. We had a lot of shiftingtimelines, but they were able to keep us on track.”

Providing a model for community tech for the art world

After 3 months of development, Friends of HEK launched in July 2023 tomuch buzz. Says Isabella, “Friends of HEK’s role in helping us gain anew awareness and respect has been clear from how much other people talkabout it and how many times we’ve been invited to talk about it.”

The interest the project received told the HEK team that they hadfulfilled their goal of making Friends of HEK a model for othercommunity-oriented arts and culture institutions. “Hypha helped us hitmany milestones for Friends of HEK, and in a way people couldunderstand,” Ugo shared. “That was the goal — to be the first museum tolaunch a tokenized membership, and to be helpful to other institutionswho want to do the same.”

“Friends of HEK’s role in helping us gain a new awareness and respecthas been clear.”

Building holistic tech that is accessible to users and sustainable forclients is core to all of Hypha’s work. To serve those ends for HEK,Hypha was active in the creation of the Friends of HEK Handbook,providing feedback on making the structure and language friendly to ageneral audience. Hypha also left the HEK team with thoroughdocumentation they could reference as they took over the tech forthemselves.

Reflecting on HEK’s partnership with Hypha, Isabella reaffirmed HEK’sbelief that art and technology aren’t separate: “I’ve been guilty ofthinking Web3 was just for people who want to make a bunch of money, butthat’s only one side of it. There’s so much more to Web3 that can berecontextualized for the art world. That’s our focus at HEK — openingthese doors.” Adds Ugo, “The art world shouldn’t be so scared of newtechnology because it can be beautiful, especially for communities.”

“The art world shouldn’t be so scared of new technology because it can be beautiful, especially for communities.”

# object.contentMap.en
Helping Basel’s HEK build digital community with the world’s first tokenized museum membership

Switzerland’s HEK (House of Electronic Arts) has been the leading museumfor digital art, media, and culture since 2011. As a center of creativetechnology, HEK aims to be at the forefront of what’s relevant,willingly pushing into areas that are unknown and undefined — areas thatinclude blockchain and Web3.

Turning standard museum membership into an experiment in digital community engagement

Even though HEK had done Web3-related projects by 2023, the team had thefeeling that they were behind on the community-building potential of thetechnology. At the same time, HEK wanted to evolve its membershipprogram beyond simply offering free museum entrance for 25 francs ayear. Putting these two opportunities together, the vision for Friendsof HEK, a museum membership that gives HEK members online experiencesand decision-making power, was born.

“Friends of HEK is an attempt to break down the usual hierarchies between institution and consumer.”

Friends of HEK was going to be the biggest tech implementation HEK haddone in years. And if they pulled it off, HEK would become the firstmuseum to tokenize its membership program. HEK needed a tech developmentpartner to make their ambitious vision a reality, but not any companywould do. Beyond being a logical experiment in Web3 technology, “Friendsof HEK is an attempt to break down the usual hierarchies betweeninstitution and consumer into a community space that’s still structuredand facilitated, but where members really feel ownership,” says HEK’seducation coordinator Isabella Maund. HEK needed a partner that didn’tjust build technology, but that would do it with care.

Hypha’s culture of balanced technical expertise for the arts and culture community

HEK met with different companies specializing in Web3 development, butnone of them engaged with the museum’s mission, goals, or mindset,instead focusing only on cost. Then they spoke to Hypha, who camerecommended by HEK artist Sarah Friend.

“In the first meeting with Hypha, it was quite obvious that they werethe right partner for us as a cultural institution.”

Hypha understood HEK on a deep level. “In the first meeting with Hypha,it was quite obvious that they were the right partner for us as acultural institution,” says Ugo Pecoraio, HEK’s Head Of Communications.“They were open to new ideas and different approaches, but could alsobring art, culture, and technology together in an uncomplicated way.”

Close collaboration to get years of thinking pared down and off the ground

As the partnership kicked off, Hypha worked with HEK to condense their project proposal, which had taken HEK“months, years even, of internal discussion” to create. Identifying HEK’s key motivations meant:

Deepening the team’s Web3 knowledge beyond the basics into its technicalaspects and culture

Asking questions to uncover true needs, priorities, and hidden assumptions behind HEK’s project proposal

“It was quite refreshing for Hypha to say, ‘That’s a great idea, butmaybe we have to do it in a different way.’”

Ugo elaborates: “We had a lot of ideas that were just that — ideas, notthings that could be done fast and within budget, would let us evolve,or that really benefited the community.” Through Hypha’s process, “Wenaturally came to understand what’s possible for the community. It wasquite refreshing for Hypha to not just say, ‘That’s a stupid idea.’Instead they’d say, ‘That’s a great idea, but maybe we have to do it ina different way.’”

Guiding HEK through the challenges of introducing its community to Web3

Once the plan for Friends of HEK was finalized, it was time to build thetechnology. But every custom project comes with problems and changes.One of the issues that arose was making purchasing a Friends of HEKmembership work with HEK’s existing payment systems. Blockchains letcommunities engage in new ways, namely community voting that’s moreexperiential and transparent in Friends of HEK’s case. To unlock thesecapabilities, each Friends of HEK membership is associated with adigital asset called an NFT, which are usually purchased usingcryptocurrency. It was important to HEK, however, that members couldstill pay with “a good old credit card” in addition to Ethereum.

Animated capture from Friends of HEK's landing page

There are many providers that enable the sale of NFTs via traditional payment methods, but none of them workedwell with the payment systems HEK was already using. To find the most reliable way forward, Hypha presenteddifferent options while informing HEK about the tradeoffs they entailed so the HEK team could make the best choice.

“The Hypha team had the expertise to solve roadblocks, bothconceptually and technically, which really gave us a sense ofsecurity.”

Another challenge Hypha helped HEK navigate came from a public commentthat questioned HEK’s motivations in creating Friends of HEK. Would thedirection of the program really be decided by voters instead of themuseum? Or would the HEK team be pulling the strings? Again, the Hyphateam helped HEK think through how to approach the problem, structuresolutions, and in this case, how to handle the public messaging. As aresult, HEK ended up putting its own influence over the program up forcommunity vote. No one voted against HEK team members being able to voteor make Friends of HEK proposals, so the team was able to continue onwith confidence that it was working in harmony with the community’sinterests.

Of Hypha’s problem-solving abilities, Isabella remarks: “The Hypha teamhad the expertise to solve both conceptual and technical roadblocks,which really gave us a sense of security. We had a lot of shiftingtimelines, but they were able to keep us on track.”

Providing a model for community tech for the art world

After 3 months of development, Friends of HEK launched in July 2023 tomuch buzz. Says Isabella, “Friends of HEK’s role in helping us gain anew awareness and respect has been clear from how much other people talkabout it and how many times we’ve been invited to talk about it.”

The interest the project received told the HEK team that they hadfulfilled their goal of making Friends of HEK a model for othercommunity-oriented arts and culture institutions. “Hypha helped us hitmany milestones for Friends of HEK, and in a way people couldunderstand,” Ugo shared. “That was the goal — to be the first museum tolaunch a tokenized membership, and to be helpful to other institutionswho want to do the same.”

“Friends of HEK’s role in helping us gain a new awareness and respecthas been clear.”

Building holistic tech that is accessible to users and sustainable forclients is core to all of Hypha’s work. To serve those ends for HEK,Hypha was active in the creation of the Friends of HEK Handbook,providing feedback on making the structure and language friendly to ageneral audience. Hypha also left the HEK team with thoroughdocumentation they could reference as they took over the tech forthemselves.

Reflecting on HEK’s partnership with Hypha, Isabella reaffirmed HEK’sbelief that art and technology aren’t separate: “I’ve been guilty ofthinking Web3 was just for people who want to make a bunch of money, butthat’s only one side of it. There’s so much more to Web3 that can berecontextualized for the art world. That’s our focus at HEK — openingthese doors.” Adds Ugo, “The art world shouldn’t be so scared of newtechnology because it can be beautiful, especially for communities.”

“The art world shouldn’t be so scared of new technology because it can be beautiful, especially for communities.”

# object.attachment[].name
Friends of HEK logo in bold black text with stylized letters, overlaid on a flowing, dotted, multicolored abstract background.

# object.attachment[].name
Friends of HEK landing page. The main heading reads 'FRIENDS OF HEK' in bold, black letters, with the subheading below it: 'Tokenized membership and an extended circle of friends.' At the bottom, a green rectangle contains scrolling text that reads: 'community governance • exclusive discord access • artist talks • curate online.'