TABU

Tyshan Wright

Curated by Laura Ritchie

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 5 at 6 pm

 

Image by Steve Farmer

Artist Biography

Tyshan Wright is an artist whose practice exists at the intersection of contemporary art and the cultural traditions of the Jamaican Maroons. Recognized as a ‘Keeper of the Heritage’ of the Jamaican Maroons, Wright’s work is rooted in self-taught cultural knowledge, independent research, and sustained studio practice. Working from Kjipuktuk (also known as Halifax, Nova Scotia), the unceeded and ancestral homeland of the Mi’kmaq, Wright has been investigating the legacy of Maroons exiled from Jamaica to colonial Halifax in 1796. His work is included in the collections of the Nova Scotia Art Bank, the National Gallery of Canada, and other public and private collections. In 2022 Wright was the Atlantic region nominee shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award, and a recipient of an Emerging Artist Award from Arts Nova Scotia. He holds an MFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, where he was a recipient of a Canada Graduate Research Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). His work has been featured in exhibitions at various galleries including the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Confederation Centre of the Arts.

Exhibition Statement

TABU reflects a return and a response—connecting my present practice to my beginnings working to preserve Maroon culture and craft in Jamaica. In Accompong Town, St. Elizabeth Parish, I began as an artisan jeweller, creating Jamaican Maroon ornaments from seeds, nuts, and locally sourced materials, and sharing this work within and beyond the community. These early efforts were rooted in sustaining Maroon cultural heritage through making. This formative practice taught me that material carries history, memory, and responsibility. It shaped how I understand craft as a form of resistance—how making can sustain culture, and how adornment can function as remembrance. I continue to work from this lineage today, using reclaimed Indigenous Maroon beads and historical materials to create new forms and narratives. My process remains slow, intuitive, and meditative, creating space to reflect on memory, diaspora, resilience, healing, and continuity. TABU positions early acts of preservation within a larger continuum, where each object becomes both a vessel of history and a gesture toward future possibility.

Acknowledgements

This exhibition is generously supported by

Published ©2026 by the Centre for Craft Nova Scotia All rights reserved. No part of this publiscation may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Photography courtesy of the artist unless otherwise stated.