NARI WARD

The retrospective at Pirelli HangarBicocca presents, for the first time, a com­bination of works that interweaves Ward’s exploration of performativity and collaborative projects. With a particular focus on time-based media works, in­cluding video, sound, performative sculptures, and installations, the exhibition delves into over thirty years of practice, presenting early seminal and historical works as well as new productions. The narrative unfolds through the seminal large-scale installations, originally realized by Ward between 1996 and 2000 for Ralph Lemon’s choreography Geography Trilogy, presented here in an ex­hibition setting for the first time since then. The three works will create a new choreography together with other sculptures, videos, installations, and the bodies of the visitors. The notion of performativity animates the exhibition it­self, which will be marked by a program of live collaborative actions running throughout the show.

The exhibition will be complemented by a monographic volume presenting the most recent studies on Nari Ward’s practice, exploring aspects of performa­tivity, sound and time-based practices that have emerged from collaborative exchanges in the artist’s work. The book will include essays and thematic contri­butions by international scholars and critics, including Naomi Beckwith, Jessica Bell Brown, Adrienne Edwards, Dieter Roelstraete, and Christina Sharpe.