Pukkart, the tech guardian against fraud in works of art

"What we do is give a work of art an identity card. We can't certify, obviously, whether an older painting was done by Murillo or Velazquez, but we can certify the authorship of new works by whoever registers them and, furthermore, ensure the ownership of existing works."

"This platform has developed a system that links each artwork to a unique identity by combining a physical tag with advanced security measures and an immutable digital record on the blockchain."

"In practice, any buyer, gallery, or institution can verify in real time that the artwork is original and consult its certified history (previous owners, interventions, or participation in events) with the guarantee that this data has not been modified."

Pukkart is a technology platform developed by researchers from the University of Cordoba that addresses fraud in art resale by providing physical and digital certification for artworks. The system assigns each artwork a unique identity by combining physical security tags with blockchain-based immutable digital records. Using QR and NFC technologies, the platform enables real-time authenticity verification and maintains a complete certified history of each piece, including ownership transfers, restorations, loans, and exhibitions. While unable to authenticate historical works, Pukkart certifies authorship of newly registered works and ensures ownership verification. The platform serves artists, galleries, museums, and institutions, with implementation already underway at the Julio Romero de Torres Museum in Cordoba.

Read at english.elpais.com