Our team
Meet the .ART team and read the story of founder Ulvi Kasimov: how .ART was won at the 2015 ICANN auction and built without venture capital.
The .ART team works in London, Beijing, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., connecting art and culture with internet technology. Beijing Guiyudi Technology Co., Ltd. is the representative of .ART in China and leads its work with the Chinese art community.
The team
Ulvi Kasimov
Founder & CEO
Kurt Pritz
Member of the Strategic Planning Board
Jeff Sass
CMO
Alexey Popov
CSO
Anastasia Sukhanov
Head of Content & Editorial
Daria Kravchuk
Head of Art & Strategic Partnerships
Alexey Zavialov
CTO
Elena Zavelev
Head of HUG.art
Founder’s story
Ulvi Kasimov, named one of Observer’s Top 50 Most Influential Leaders in the Art World, founded .ART in 2016 through his London-based company UK Creative Ideas. .ART was launched as a top-level domain created specifically for artists, cultural institutions and those who live and work in the arts. From the beginning, the goal was to give the global art community a digital space that reflects its values — authorship, context and cultural continuity — rather than treating art as just another category of online content.
“The idea of the .ART domain was built on belief — belief in culture, belief in people, and belief that long-term value matters more than short-term gain.”
Why .ART exists
The art world depends on attribution, provenance and trust, yet this information is easily lost online. To address this, .ART received ICANN approval to extend WHOIS information fields beyond standard technical data: domain holders can register artwork identification data based on standards set by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and endorsed by Interpol and other authoritative bodies. This makes .ART not just a naming system but long-term cultural infrastructure.
The point of no return
In July 2015, ICANN held the auction that would decide who operates the .ART domain; nine applicants competed. Two days before the auction, all outside co-investors withdrew, judging the venture too risky.
“My family believed in the project more than my partners did. That was the most instructive moment of my life.”
Kasimov went ahead on his own, financing the auction and the registry’s early years with family funds, and won. .ART has grown since without venture capital or outside control — a structure that still defines its long-term strategy.
Art as a public good
From the outset, .ART was conceived as more than a commercial registry. It works alongside the Kasimov family’s philanthropy in education, healthcare and culture. A central focus is the Healing Power of Art Initiative, a long-term programme that supports artists, art therapists and cultural organisations working in trauma recovery, mental health and social wellbeing through grants, partnerships, editorial visibility and free digital tools. The family also supports hospitals, schools, museums, educational institutions and independent publishing projects.
“Our goal is simple: to leave the world more humane and more fair than we found it — because it is our children who will live in it.”
For partnership or press enquiries, contact us. Learn more: About .ART.