Lukas Amacher, Curator and Managing Director of 1OF1, runs one of the premier NFT enabled digital art collections in the world. 1OF1 collaborates with forward thinking artists and institutions by collecting, contextualizing and supporting art of the digital age, taking an activist approach to the work it collects. 1OF1 has recently collaborated with the likes of Castello di Rivoli in Italy, the MoMA in New York or M+ in Hong Kong, among others. They curated the Cartography auctions with Christie’s, two digital art sales to benefit MAPS, the multidisciplinary association for psychedelic sciences in 2022 and 2023 respectively and will be showing artists from the collection worldwide in 2024.
Mila Askarova was born and raised in Azerbaijan before settling in the UK. In 2010, after hosting conceptually interlinked off-site exhibitions, Askarova founded Gazelli Art House in London as an additional space to its Baku gallery, founded in 2003. Both spaces grew to support a wide range of local and international artists working in traditional and new media art through its diverse programme incorporating exhibitions, pop-ups, residencies, talks and publications.
Manal Ataya is a leading figure in the UAE’s art and cultural sector with 20 years of senior level experience in museum development, cultural heritage management, and cultural diplomacy. As the Museums Advisor to His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah since June 2023, she supports and advises on strategic planning, cultural policy making, and new museum projects for the Sharjah Museums Authority (SMA), which oversees a network of 16 museums with diverse dedicated collections including calligraphy, Islamic art, aviation, heritage, archaeology and modern Arab art. Prior to her current role, she served as the Director General of SMA for 15 years, leading a team of over 700 staff and implementing innovative initiatives to enhance the accessibility, inclusion, and social responsibility in the museums network. She is a graduate of both Hamilton College and Harvard University.
Juli Cho Bailer is a Korean-American curator, writer, and art tech entrepreneur based in Zurich. Before working at the intersection of art and technology, she refined her expertise at esteemed institutions, including the Whitney Museum and the Jewish Museum in New York as Collections Manager, and as Curator of the Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art in Washington, where she played a pivotal role in shaping the museum’s curatorial vision to push the boundaries of presenting art in the medium of glass. An early innovator in AI and blockchain for the art sector, Juli co-founded and served as CEO of a Swiss startup from 2019 to 2023, when she transitioned back to her passion for curating. She continues her entrepreneurial journey to which she brings her extensive expertise in the art market and museum practices to her work in technology and hybrid realms. Juli is the Principal of her advisory company artluxe.io.
Rudy Capildeo joined Wedlake Bell together with Tim Maxwell as joint Head of the Art & Luxury group. He advises a broad range of international clients ranging from private collectors, artists and galleries/dealers to museums, financial institutions and off-shore trustees on a variety of complex, commercial matters. His practice is predominantly non-contentious and involves the purchase and sale of artworks and other high value collectibles, luxury asset financing, the protection of artists’ rights and the import and export of artworks, classic cars and other luxury assets.
Aimee Dawson is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art in the digital sphere; social media in the art world; and Middle Eastern visual culture. She is a columnist at The Art Newspaper, where she was formerly an editor, and is also a Guest Lecturer in the School of Arts at SOAS, University of London.
Marie Eve Didier has a diverse background in research, biotechnologies, microscopy, and the interdisciplinary field of scientific characterization of artworks, with a Ph.D. in Nonlinear Optics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and multiple master’s degrees spanning physics, and conservation science. She has worked as a Kress-Mellon Fellow at the National Gallery of Art Washington DC, where she developed advanced image processing algorithms for the visualization of underdrawings in paintings. Marie’s professional journey includes roles as a PostDoc for industry at the Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM), where she founded MATIS, a Swiss-based start-up focused on developing innovative solutions for art authentication and security. As the CEO of MATIS, she has led a team in the creation of a unique, robust, and cost-effective solution for art examination, leveraging advanced imaging systems, AI, and blockchain technology. Marie is deeply involved in scientific and cultural outreach initiatives, including co-founding RestArt Beirut, a European philanthropic fund dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage in Beirut.
Robert Norton is the CEO and co-founder of Verisart. Robert brings more than 25 years of experience in e-commerce, business development and Internet startups. During the last decade, he has focused on the intersection of art and technology. Prior to Verisart, Robert was CEO & Co-founder at Saatchi Art and Sedition Art. During his time at Saatchi Art, he completed its $5 million Series A financing in 2010 and led its subsequent restructure and relaunch. Today Saatchi Art is the world’s largest online gallery enabling artists to sell directly to their collectors. He went on to launch Sedition Art, a ground breaking online platform for collecting digital art supported by the world’s leading contemporary artists including Damien Hirst, Shepard Fairey, Bill Viola, Yoko Ono, Jenny Holzer and many others. He founded Verisart to build trust between collectors and creators and empower artists to use technology to chart their own path and career.
Chidi Nwaubani, the founder of Looty, is a visionary designer, artist and tech practitioner. His contributions have been recognised at the Venice Biennale Architecture 2023 and featured in BBC News, Reuters, and The New York Times, among other publications. As a member of Snapchat’s Lens Creator Network, Chidi experiments with XR/AR to redefine arts and history by providing captivating experiences. Looty’s genesis reflects Chidi’s vision to empower artists and reimagine ideas of memorialising history and culture using blockchain and NFTs. Chidi is a member of the African Futures Institute’s “Pinpoint,” an archive of the top 100+ innovative African and African diaspora practitioners created by Lesley Lokko . His insights contribute to the ongoing dialogue about the role of art, technology, and culture.
