Charlotte Horlyck

Dr. Charlotte Horlyck is a Reader in the History of Korean Art at SOAS University of London, serving as Head of the School of Arts and a member of the Department of History of Art and Archaeology. She holds a PhD from SOAS (2006) and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). Her research focuses on Korean art history, with expertise in pre-modern and modern visual/material culture, collecting practices, and funerary archaeology. Notable contributions include her monograph Korean Art: From the 19th Century to the Present (2017), translated into Korean and recognized in the Sejong Selection of Books (2021). She has led major research projects, such as a study on Korean art collecting by British diplomats (funded by the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation).

• Education: PhD in Korean Art History (SOAS, 2006); MA (SOAS).
• Professional Roles: Former Curator of Korean Collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum (1998–2004); Researcher at Seoul National University, Ewha Woman’s University, and the Academy of Korean Studies.

Her research explores the Koryŏ kingdom’s material culture, including ceramics and metalwares, and their reinterpretation by early 20th-century collectors. Recent work addresses modern Korean art’s socio-political dimensions and global art histories. She has co-edited volumes such as Death, Mourning, and the Afterlife in Korea (2014), honored with a Korean government award.

Dr. Horlyck actively contributes to academic governance, serving as President of the British Association of Korean Studies (since 2016) and on editorial boards like Misulsahak Yeonguhoe. Her current project examines late 19th-/early 20th-century Korean art collecting, supported by the KAMS Overseas Publication Support Program.

• Awards & Recognition: Republic of Korea Ministry of Education Award (2015); Sejong Selection of Books (2021).
• Grants/Projects: Provenance research on Korean art collections (UK-based, 2021); KAMS-funded publication support (2021).

Her advisory role includes supervising PhD students researching topics like Japanese photography, socio-political art movements, and Buddhist patronage in Korea and Japan. She is affiliated with SOAS’s MA Creative and Cultural Industries program, fostering interdisciplinary art studies.