Chandra Morrison Ariyo

Dr Chandra Morrison Ariyo is a Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Geography and Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She specializes in urban ethnography, focusing on public art practices, visual culture, and urbanism in Latin America. Her work includes long-term ethnographic research with graffiti communities in São Paulo, Brazil, and Santiago, Chile. She also collaborates on feminist activism and urban violence projects, and cultural policy initiatives in the UK. She is a founding member of the Feminist Cities Co-Lab, funded by the British Academy.

Education: PhD from the University of Cambridge; postdoctoral research and teaching at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. Prior roles include Leverhulme Early Career Fellow and PI for a British Academy project.

Research Interests: Urban ethnography, graffiti/public art, art activism, feminist methodologies, and visual culture across Latin America and the UK. Her book Metagraffiti (2024) explores graffiti’s role in shaping urban identities. Recent projects include a documentary on social value frameworks (Mapping Social Value, 2023) and policy studies on small arts organizations.

Awards: Supported by the Leverhulme Trust, British Academy, and UK Society for Latin American Studies.

Grants & Advising: PI for British Academy projects; Leverhulme Trust-funded research; training in interdisciplinary methods. Active in collaborative projects like the Feminist Cities Co-Lab.

Labs/Teams: Core member of Feminist Cities Co-Lab; interdisciplinary collaborations on urban art and cultural policy initiatives.