Exhibit and care for living software

Guidance for gallery presentations, museum acquisitions and collection care.

Present the live artwork whenever possible. Generative artworks are running software: their movement, interaction and response to time belong in the exhibition. Compressed images and clips serve as previews, reference captures or fallbacks when live rendering is impractical.

The institution does not need to acquire or take custody of an NFT to display it. Owners can keep their editions in their own wallets throughout the exhibition. Agree presentation and attribution with the artist; no platform account or wallet connection is needed to run the display.

A gallery or museum can also be an exhibition collaborator, receiving an artist-agreed share of project mint revenue while an exhibition arrangement is active. The artist configures this through the project's existing Additional Payee setting. Read exhibition collaborations for the revenue flow and how to open and close the period.

For galleries

Build the presentation around the artist and selected works. Agree on edition selection, credit, permitted captures and visitor interaction. Keep the edition link beside the display so visitors can find the work and its project.

Use exhibition setup to curate a single-screen sequence or configure projection mapping across multiple outputs and surfaces. Select exact editions, whole projects or works held by particular collection wallets. If visitors are directed to mint or collect, provide that route on their phones or another device. The display can run without a connected wallet.

For museums and collections

Record each exhibited edition's chain, contract and token ID alongside its project, edition number, artist and provenance. A code-page NFT and art-edition NFT identify different objects; contracts and identity explains their roles.

Ask the artist to document significant behaviors: how the edition starts, how time affects it, which interactions matter, and which display changes are acceptable. Use conservation and archives to keep source, historical inputs, dependencies and installation records together.

Plan the handover

An exhibition record should identify the editions, contacts, intended presentation and files supplied. Preserve the artist's stated license and agreed exhibition terms alongside technical materials. An acquisition can be documented separately when one is involved; neither a purchase nor a transfer to the museum is required for rendering.

Test on the actual display hardware. Record a reference capture, then check that a fresh copy reproduces the relevant behavior. A repeatable installation procedure makes the next exhibition easier.

Shared references

• Exhibition collaborations: artist-controlled revenue sharing for galleries and museums during a show.
• Exhibition setup: Museum settings, projection mapping, live rendering and daily operation.
• Conservation and archives: archive inventory and reconstruction checks.
• Storage and metadata: source transactions, previews and metadata modes.
• Project management: which settings can change and who controls them.