Christian Luczanits

Dr Christian Luczanits serves as the David L. Snellgrove Senior Lecturer in Tibetan and Buddhist Art at SOAS University of London, where he also acts as Department Recruitment, Admissions and Marketing Convenor. He previously held research positions at the University of Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences, and Lumbini International Research Institute, followed by visiting professorships at UC Berkeley, Free University Berlin, and Stanford University. Before academia, he was Senior Curator at the Rubin Museum of Art, New York.

• PhD in Tibetan and Buddhist Studies (University of Vienna) under the late Maurizio Taddei
• Specializes in early Buddhist art (1st-5th centuries) and early Tibetan Buddhist art (7th-15th centuries)
• Key research topics: Maitreya iconography, development of Mahāyāna and esoteric traditions, Tibetan artistic adaptation of Indian forms, and AHRC-funded monastery collections documentation in Mustang and Ladakh

His recent publications analyze transcultural dynamics in Himalayan Buddhist heritage, including monastic collections, mandala symbolism, and artistic revival movements. He co-curated the Gandhara – The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan exhibition at Bonn's Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

PhD supervisees include:

• Udomluck Hoontrakul (Political Economy of Marginal Polities)
• Qianhui Lin (Bodhisattva Conceptualization in Gandhāra)
• Agneta Niklasson (Esoteric Buddhism in Swat-Gilgit-Kashmir sculpture)
• Dr Lesley S Pullen (Angkorian Divine Adornment)
• Kulamitra David Zukas (Rock-Cut Buddhist Monasteries)