About us
ArtTact is an online database for searching and reviewing artworks, promoting transparency and responsible art collecting. It allows government officials to review voluntarily registered artworks in individual, dealer, public and private collections.
In the decades since the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property of 1970, not enough has changed despite the adoption of dealer and museum ethics codes. There is a need for greater transparency to improve trust. The Association of Art Museum Directors built a registry of artifacts newly acquired by museums in an attempt to provide source nations with an easy means to monitor for objects to which they may have a claim.
In the same spirit, The Art Transparency Act is an online-accessible database of antiquities that serves as a registry encouraging transparency by allowing government officials to search for and review items in the collections of individuals and dealers that may have originated from their countries.
Collectors, Dealers and Agents do not have the ability to search outside of their own uploaded collections, unless the artwork is uploaded to the registry with the “public view” option selected.
A Registry user can decide to use the registry as their private collection database (only viewable by themselves and governmental agencies), or they can make it visible to the public, it is their choice.
There are two types of accounts: Registry users and Government Subscribers.
Registry Users:
Individual Collectors (aka Collectors) are able to create their own account and upload individual pieces from their collections. They can create multiple collections. (This might be useful if they want to keep the contents of one home separated from another.)
Dealers/Agents will have the same capabilities as Collectors.
Government Subscribers:
Government users are representatives of various government entities from countries all around the world. In order to have a subscription, one must have an accredited governmental email address. Each country will be able to notate artworks that they have viewed in order to promote communication between the different countries’ representatives.
Search Functionality
Only Government users will have the ability to search the entire database.
Collectors, Dealers and Agents will be able to search only their own listings and public listings.
Timestamping Functionality
Once a piece has been uploaded, it is timestamped, and the status clock begins running.
Each new piece defaults to blue. After one year, the color status changes to clear.
Certificate Generation Functionality
Once a piece is uploaded to the registry, a unique TACT# is generated and a certificate is generated.
A transparent market begins the initial upload. Clear artworks will soon become the golden standard for art collecting.