Irene Hayejin Kim (she/her) is a first-year PhD student specializing in African American art, Afro-Asian cultural practices, and their intersections. Since completing her Master’s thesis, 80 BPM: The Closest Rhythm to the Heart – Archiving Black Music, Contextualizing Its Narratives & Decolonizing the Flow of the Museum (2020), in London, her research has expanded to incorporate non-canonical genres—vernacular performance, popular culture, and cultural memory—into American art history, examining how ephemeral cultural practices shape both individual and collective identities.  

In the years leading up to her relocation to the United States, her research turned toward North American contexts, particularly cross-racial art practices, cultural memory, and urban geography surrounding the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and post-war California.  

Prior to joining Tyler, Irene expanded her international professional experience over the past decade, working as a mediator between Western art organizations and Asia. She began her career as a junior curator for the Syrian art exhibition Do fish ever get seasick? (2017), developed in collaboration with the Syria Art Association and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). She later joined Union Gallery in London, where she facilitated Rose Wylie’s exhibition in Seoul Arts Center; served on the Kiaf committee during the launch of Frieze Seoul; organized the Paris Opera Ballet Gala in Korea at Etoile Classic, securing funding from the Embassy of France in Korea; and worked at Sprüth Magers working in a hybrid role between Berlin and Seoul, contributing exhibitions, museum collaborations, and public relations. Alongside working in art industry, she served as a university lecturer in Korea from 2023 to 2026.  

M.A., Museums, Galleries, and Contemporary Culture, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, 2020  

B.A., Fine Art, Korea National University of Arts, Seoul, South Korea, 2015