Vyjayanthi Rao is an anthropologist, writer and curator focusing on displacement, memory, material cultures and imaginaries of the future, with a particular interest in speculative practices in contemporary social life. Her work explores the connections between violence, ruination, uncertainty and speculation in contemporary culture and has been published widely, in journals, edited volumes, catalogue texts and magazines.
Vyjayanthi received her Ph.D. in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from the University of Chicago and has taught at The New School for Social Research and the Spitzer School of Architecture. Currently she is a Visiting Professor at the Yale School of Architecture and a Senior Editor of the journal Public Culture. She was part of the curatorial team of the Lisbon Architecture Triennal 6th edition (2022), co-curating the exhibition Multiplicity with Tau Tavengwa.