March 12, 2007 – April 13, 2007

Born in St. Andrews, Jamaica and immigrated to Harlem, New York where he now lives and works, Nari Ward uses everyday objects to construct sculptural narratives with cultural and historical associations. His installations comment on a broad range of human experiences, from socio-economics to political hypocrisies to the contemporary state of spirituality.

Salvage Research Soul Training Project is a multimedia installation that includes wheelchair-bound puppeteers and dance actions developed and performed by dancer, choreographer Ralph Lemon. It also consists of a naturalistic six-foot-tall parrot puppet able to karaoke songs from the former Mansfield Training School Chorus and Band, and “parrot” a diatribe of quotes, statistics, official pronouncements, and personalized reflections. Ward’s CAG exhibition explores notions of vulnerability, dependence, waiting, anticipation, and resilience of the human spirit.

This exhibition traveled to The Queens Museum in NYC and was a multimedia installation that included wheelchair-bound puppeteers made here at UConn and dance actions developed and performed by dancer- choreographer Ralph Lemon. Ward’s CAG installation also consisted of a naturalistic six-foot tall parrot puppet able to karaoke songs from the former Mansfield Training School’s chorus and band (present day Depot Campus). The exhibition explored notions of vulnerability, dependency, waiting, anticipation, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Featured Artists
Nari Ward