Nari Ward
Born:
Kingston, Jamaica, 1963
Lives:
New York City
SiteLines Project
Nari Ward's "Pathmarker" project involves creating versions of the Jamaican street vendor carts that the artist remembers from his childhood. Ward worked with students from Andover High School, Lawrence High School, and PhillipsAcademy to paint the carts and stock them with culturally specific products according to five designations: "Buy White", "Buy Black," "Buy Red," and "Buy Yellow," and "Buy Gold," a cart that addresses cultural groups who feel neglected by these historic (and obviously limiting) categorizations. The carts will be wheeled to classrooms at the participating schools and into Andover by students who will facilitate conversations about the content of the carts and distribute printed circulars explaining the project.
"Pathmarker" was initiated by Ward's lifelong dream to build a Jamaican vendor cart combined with his interest in a sign reading "Buy Black," which he saw in a hardware store window in Harlem several years ago. For him, the sign was the last vestige of Civil Rights Movement slogans that attempted to assert the identity and independence of the African American community. Together these ideas address Ward's continual investigation into the structure of United States economics and advertising.
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