Staff

David Glasser is Executive Chair of the Trustees and fulfils the full time role of Director.

He has led the reinvention of Ben Uri since it re-opened in 2002 following 7 years without a gallery. In 2018 he led the pioneering ’Sustainability and Public Benefit Strategic Plan’ which turned the standard museum operating model on its head.

Today Ben Uri is nationally and internationally recognised as a mainstream research and digital led institution. The museum has a unique central and distinctive focus on the wide refugee and immigrant contribution to British art since 1900 disseminated online through an expansive digital coverage.

Rachel Dickson (MA Courtauld), is Senior Research Manager of the Ben Uri Research Unit (BURU). Curator at Ben Uri since 2002 and headed curatorial services until this new appointment. Her solo projects include: Art Out of the Bloodlands: A Century of Polish Artists in Britain (2017); Judy Chicago — A Transatlantic Narrative and The Inspiration of Decadence: Dodo Burgner 1907-1998 (both 2012). Collaborative exhibitions include Jankel Adler: A "Degenerate" Artist in Britain, 1940-1949 (2019), Bomberg (2017-18), Out of Chaos (2015); ‘Uproar!’: The First 50 Years of The London Group, 1913-1963 (2013); Forced Journeys: Artists in Exile, 1933-45 (2009-10), Whitechapel at War: Isaac Rosenberg and his Circle (2008), Regard and Ritual: Julie Held and Shanti Panchal (2007). She manages the development of Ben Uri’s archives and jointly overseas a CDA PhD candidate at Kingston University, researching émigré art dealers.

 Rachel has edited and contributed to many publications in the UK and abroad. Recent publications include '“Our horizon is the barbed wire”: Artistic Life in the British Internment Camps' in Insiders Outsiders: Refugees from Nazi Europe and their Contribution to British Visual Culture (Lund Humphries, 2019) and “The Man from the Bauhaus”: The Lost Career of Werner 'Jacky' Jackson, (Yearbook Vol. 19). A chapter on the portrait of Wilhelm Hollitscher by Hugo Dachinger is forthcoming, to mark the 80th anniversary of internment. As committee member, Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies, London University, she was contributing co-editor for Yearbook Vol. 19: The Applied Arts in British Exile from 1933 (Brill, 2019) and is researching Ben Uri and Émigré Musicians for Yearbook Vol. 20.

 Rachel has spoken at Tate, NPG, Imperial War Museum, Leeds City Art Gallery, QMU, Senate House (London University), amongst other institutions. Recent papers explored émigré art historians, J P Hodin and Dr Helen Rosenau; and émigré artists, Werner Jackson and Helga Michie. Beyond Ben Uri, she is a partner in Dickson Russell Art Management, providing consultancy services to corporate, institutional and private clients, advising on art collections, changing exhibitions and public commissions.

A selection of Rachel Dickson's publications and papers.

Ana earned her BA and MA in Art History from the University of Rijeka, Croatia. In 2022, she obtained her Ph.D. from the Courtauld Institute of Art, with a thesis titled ‘D’Annunzio’s Futurists: Fiume from 1914 to 1934’. Her thesis explored the artistic practices of Italian and Croatian artists amid political turmoil during the first half of the twentieth century in the port-town of Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia). Additionally, she examined how the archives of minority groups challenge established perceptions of avant-garde art. Her research interests encompass Italian Futurism, Italian and Yugoslav avant-garde art, marginalised female Futurists, exhibition practices under fascism, and the use of satire and disgust in art. Ana presently holds teaching positions at the Courtauld Institute of Art and the Northwestern Polytechnic in Canada. Prior to immigrating to London, she worked for the Venice Biennale in Italy, the Virtual Museum of Avant-garde Art in Zagreb, and the Ludwig Museum in Hungary. She also curated exhibitions in Croatia and published articles on avant-garde art.

Joy completed her MA in Antiques with distinction, (UCLan) in 2015 and is currently at SOAS University of London as a PhD researcher in the Department of Art and Archaeology. Her research topic focuses on the cultural interactions of West African carving reliefs, often known as “Afro-Portuguese” ivories. It considers their impact on the decorative arts and architectural designs of notable English Tudor Mansions. West African carvers carved these exquisitely made ivories during the Tudor/Elizabethan period, an era of cross-cultural trade between coastal West Africa and Europe predating the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism. Her research embodies trips to scenic and grandiose historic English estates and examining priceless antiques and their hidden histories. Joy worked in the galleries/exhibitions department of the Brunei Gallery, SOAS between 2005 – 2019.

Réka studied Liberal Arts, Art History and English Culture at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest graduating in 2018; continuing with a master's programme in Art History, specialising in art after 1800. Her previous experiences include assisting with the Desired Beauty: Pre-Raphaelite Masterpieces from the Tate Collection exhibition (Hungarian National Gallery, 2021), working as a Visitor Services Coordinator at the Hungarian National Gallery and completing a collections internship at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.

She held a lecture on the representations of St Elizabeth of Hungary in Victorian art and literature accompanying the aformentioned exhibition on 16 July 2021. She joined Ben Uri as a Collections and Research Officer, a position she held for two and a half years and is now working in IT and Web Development. Her research interests are in late Victorian and 20th century British art, with special focus on the Hungarian immigrant artists’ contribution.

Masoom Pincha earned her Master’s degree in History of Art with distinction from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India, in 2022, followed by a Diploma in International Affairs and Diplomacy from the Indian Institute of Governance and Leadership in 2023.

In her current professional portfolio, Masoom contributes to the arts and culture sector in various capacities. Apart from her role at Ben Uri, she also serves as a Researcher for Aranyani and as Coordinator for the International Art Market Studies Association. Her prior roles include Consultant of Fine Arts at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (Ministry of External Affairs) and Project Coordinator at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (Ministry of Culture), among others.

Masoom’s research focuses on the intersection of culture, technology, and society, reflecting her commitment to advancing cultural understanding and innovation through both scholarship and practice.