CityX Foundation is rooted in a private family collection whose core centers on over a century of Ukrainian avant-garde — from the early 20th century to the present day.

CityX Foundation strives to be a global platform connecting artists from fragile zones with new audiences and technologies. Through exhibitions, education, and digital preservation, we advocate for art as a force of resilience, empathy, and transformation.

As we continue to amplify Ukrainian voices, we are expanding our collection with international artists and actively participating in exhibitions, art fairs, and festivals worldwide — building bridges between cultures, histories, and technologies.

Curatorial Focus: Fragile Art — works shaped by cultural transition, vulnerability, and resilience.

Today, CityX Foundation has evolved into an international platform dedicated to supporting art from fragile zones. While rooted in its Ukrainian avant-garde heritage, CityX now operates globally — creating spaces for exhibitions, performances, and digital art experiences that transcend borders.

In 2022, following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the CityX. io platform was launched with an urgent mission: to rescue the collection, digitize it, and preserve it on the blockchain. This effort resulted in two digital NFT drops based on physical works from the family collection — marking the beginning of CityX’s digital archive.

The origins of CityX trace back to 2014, when Tetyana Tumasyan, founder of Ukraine’s first municipal gallery and mother of CityX founder Asya Nikolaeva, curated a landmark exhibition of Kharkiv avant-garde at the National Art Museum of Ukraine. The project, titled City XA (with "Х" as the Cyrillic first letter of their hometown, Kharkiv), laid the conceptual groundwork for what would later become CityX Foundation.

To preserve, promote, and support fragile art — art that emerges from or reflects on conflict zones, social vulnerability, or cultural transition — by bridging physical and digital forms of expression.

Mission

Asya Nikolaeva

An award-winning director and producer, she is the founder of On A Whim Films and CityX Foundation and co-founder of Accompart’s Digital Art Auction.

Her practice centers on rethinking how art is created, experienced, and preserved in the age of Web3.

Through CityX Foundation, Asya develops blockchain-based archives that extend the life of physical artworks into the digital realm — shaping new ways to preserve cultural heritage for future generations.
As a collector of both traditional and digital art, and an angel investor in the creative economy, she actively supports emerging artists and brings their work to global audiences.

Alongside her work in the art world, Asya continues directing and producing. Most recently, she co-produced the documentary The Hammer — a film about Simon de Pury, one of the most influential figures in the global art auction world — as well as the theatre production White Factory, based on a script by Dmitry Glukhovsky. She is also a speaker and contributor at leading international art events, including Art Basel Miami, VOLTA Art Fair, NFT.NYC, etc.

Based in San Francisco, Asya Nikolaeva works at the intersection of film, contemporary art, and emerging technologies — building bridges between physical and digital cultural worlds.

Tatyana Tumasyan

Originally from Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tatyana is a seasoned professional in art curation. She is a founder of the first international youth art forum in Ukraine — NonStopMedia, commissioner of II National Biennale of Young Art. Tatyana has been teaching at the Department of "Media Communications" and "Cultural Studies" at Kharkiv National University.

Kharkiv Municipal Gallery Director and Vovatanya Gallery Art Director, Member of the Association of Art Galleries of Ukraine and of Expert Council on Contemporary Art under the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.

Beka Bukhnikashvili

He has worked with governmental organizations, international agencies, and major brands, managing communication, content, visual identity, video production, and digital campaigns across multiple platforms.
Since 2022, he has been active in the NFT space, delivering both digital and physical visual experiences for the City X Foundation—from social media to large-scale event screens.

He also serves as Head of Sports Content at one of the largest sports platforms in Georgia, overseeing full-cycle content strategy, editorial operations, and high-impact collaborations within the sports industry. His expertise lies in creating engaging content across sports, culture, and corporate sectors.

City X’s Renaissance man specializing in digital art and NFTs, with a strong background in content creation and multimedia management.

Yana Kuzmina

Her work spans international exhibitions, digital art platforms, and cross-disciplinary projects, focusing on connecting artists, institutions, and audiences through thoughtful storytelling and innovative formats.

Yana working at the intersection of contemporary art, web3, and cultural initiatives. With over 4 years of experience in blockchain-based projects, she specializes in building narratives, developing brand ecosystems, and shaping meaningful collaborations across the art and tech landscape.