Our Staff
Seif El Rashidi
Director
Seif El Rashidi is an architectural historian with 20 years of expertise working on heritage preservation and managing projects related to promoting public engagement with heritage and culture. Seif was formerly the Project Manager of Layers of London (2016-2020), developed by the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London; Project Manager at the Guildhall Library (2016-2018); Magna Carta Programme Manager for Salisbury Cathedral (2014-2016); the coordinator of Durham’s UNESCO World Heritage Site (2008-2014); a team member of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture’s Darb Al-Ahmar Revitalisation Project in Cairo (1997-2008) and at Ahmad Hamid Architects (1995-1997). Seif has been a technical reviewer for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture’s heritage projects since 2013, and was on the World Monuments Fund Project Selection Committee for 2019. He is an an advisory member of the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund. Since 2018, he has developed a dynamic cultural heritage programme in London in partnership with Asia House, Leighton House, The Arab British Centre, London Craft Week, among others.
He studied City Design and Social Science at the London School of Economics (Msc), History of Art and Architecture (MA) and Economics (BA) at the American University in Cairo.
He is the co-author (with Sam Bowker) of The Tentmakers of Cairo: Egypt’s Medieval and Modern Applique Craft (AUC Press, 2018).
Matthew Barnett
Finance
Madhavi Rao
Business Development Consultant
Hugo Cook
Hands On Islamic Art Coordinator
Hugo Cook studied Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford (BA), and Egyptology at the University of Cambridge (MPhil).
In addition to promoting the work of the Barakat Trust, Hugo is the Tutor of Egyptology at City Lit and the British Museum, and has taught widely about the history and culture of the Middle East. He has a broad range of experiences in the field of Middle Eastern heritage, including many promoting the cultural heritage of the MENA region and generating public engagement in this area of interest. He has written for public periodicals, worked on major documentary series, and created popular educational content for social media with tens of millions of views.