Dr. Lydia Nakashima Degarrod

Lydia Nakashima Degarrod, Ph.D., is both a visual artist and a cultural anthropologist who creates installations that blur the line between ethnography and visual art. Her aim is to convey experiences of extraordinary nature and address issues of social justice. Her latest work, Geographies of the Imagination, explored the inner images of exile.

As a cultural anthropologist, Lydia has conducted research and published on shamanism and dream interpretation among the Mapuche, one of the native peoples of Chile, and also studied popular cultures among urban Chileans.

For her interdisciplinary work, Lydia has received awards from the Wing Luke Memorial Museum of Art, Ministry of Culture of Chile, Harvard University, the California Council of the Humanities, and the Center for Art and Public Life.

Her forthoming book, Geographies of the Imagination: An Art Ethnography of Memories and Reflections of Exile (Routledge 2013), is about the internal images of migration and exile based on her installation Geographies of the Imagination.

Lydia is also the author of the following book chapters:

• 2012. Geographies of the Imagination: Engaging Audiences and Participants in Collaborative Interdisciplinary Gallery Installations. In Phillip Vannini (Editor). Popularizing Research. New York: Peter Lang Press, pp. 74-79.
• 2011. Searching for Catalyst and Empowerment: The Asian American Women Artists Association. In Jill Fields (Editor). Entering the Picture: Judy Chicago, The Fresno Feminist Art Program, and the Collective Visions of Women Artists. London: Routledge Press, pp. 241-256.
• 2010. Using Art in Ethnographic Research and Representation: An Emergence of Images and Knowledge. In Riccardo Bernardini and John van Praag (Editors). Eranos Yearbook 2006/2007/2008, Eranos Foundation. Ascona Switzerland: Daimon Verlag, pp. 173-191
• 2010. When Ethnographies Enter Galleries. In Sandra Dudley (Editor). Museum Materialities: Objects, Engagements, Interpretations. London: Routledge Press, pp.128-142.