Julia Bell founded art advisory and consultancy, Parapluie, in 2017 after over twenty years of experience of working with contemporary art. 

Julia was formerly Head of Partnerships at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Curator of the Business Collectors Network, Curator of Middlesborough Art Gallery and a freelance Public Art Commissioning Consultant. Julia has extensive experience of working with individuals and companies to source art. She has also worked with architects, designers, local authorities and property developers to develop public art and cultural strategies. She also has over ten years of Board experience.  Julia has a MA in Museum and Gallery Management and a Postgraduate Diploma in Art Profession, Law and Ethics. She is a member of the Institute of Art and Law; UK Registrars Group; International Society of Appraisers and a Fellow of the RSA. She is also a keen collector herself. Julia divides her time between London, the North of England. 

Emilia De Stasio is the Founder and COO of art collecting platform Artscapy, which makes art collecting safer, easier, and more accessible using technology. She has been actively collecting contemporary art for the past decade and turned this passion into her vocation with Artscapy. Before Artscapy, Emilia worked as an investment manager at a venture capital family office, investing into technology-driven startups across a varied spectrum of industries, including geoscience and VR, consumer technology, software-as-a-service solutions. At her core, Emilia’s background is in the financial sector, having worked as a quantitative researcher and analyst at the European Central Bank and Moody’s Investors Service.  

Beside collecting art and spending most of her free time at galleries and museums, Emilia is passionate about technology and the startup ecosystem. She actively mentors founders at UCL, and supports organisations like the Startup Leadership Programme, as well as speaking at startup and investment seminars.  

Rory Blain (born 1972) is the director of Sedition, the platform to collect, share, trade and enjoy contemporary art in digital format. Blain’s current focus is on growing the company, reaching new audiences and promoting the enjoyment of contemporary art in digital forms. With the advent of blockchain technology, and developments in AI, VR, generative art and other new advances, the contemporary landscape is evolving fast, and Sedition is at the forefront of these developments.

Rory has over 25 years experience in the contemporary art world working alongside his brother Harry Blain, the founder of Blains Fine Art, Haunch of Venison and Blain|Southern galleries. Rory Blain has lived and worked throughout Europe, including Paris and Zurich, where he ran the Haunch of Venison gallery prior to joining Sedition as Director at the start of 2013. Rory has always worked in the arts having previously pursued a career in dance and performing arts before joining the family gallery. Rory Blain’s wide experience in the art world has informed his current role in developing the concept of art collecting in the digital age at Sedition.

Rory has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Open University and graduated from Laine Theatre Arts school of performing arts in Surrey.

He currently lives in Canterbury with his wife and 4 children.