ARTIVIST. BLACK WOMAN. GRIOT.
Artivist. Black Woman. Griot.
Photo by: Cyrah L. Ward
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Cyrah L. Ward
(They,She) ... Cyrah L. Ward, is a vessel for spirit, a medium for divine embodied wisdom, and a griot dedicated to healing through the art of storytelling. Deeply rooted at the crossroads of religion and spirituality, Cyrah L. Ward is a product of Ancestral Magic.
Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, Cyrah is the daughter of Tisha L. Rivera-Ward and William B. Ward II. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Mattie "Mother" Ward who migrated from Georgia to Cincinnati, Ohio, after the passing of her husband Nicodemus Ward. Cyrah L. Ward is uniquely named after her grandmother, Sarah L. Ward, whose family migrated from Locust Grove, Georgia to Cincinnati, Ohio. She is also the great-granddaughter of spiritist Placida Rivera who with her husband, Ramon Rivera, migrated from Puerto Rico to Harlem. As a descendant of audacious Black and Puerto Rican women, Cyrah dedicates their work to thinking critically about the intersectionality of race, gender and everyday life navigation. Cyrah’s work grapples with the questions: “How does one privilege the Black gaze when facilitating healing through artistic mediums?, How does one invite the viewer to co-create a space of liberation through the arts?, How does one welcome the viewer to work their own roots?" Cyrah L. Ward seeks solutions to these questions by conjuring embodied choreography, film, photography, poetry, spoken words, and oral history to center the stories and perspectives of Black People. An Alumna of The Ohio State University (B.F.A), the University of Maryland, College Park (M.F.A.), and former performer with Urban Bush Women, Cyrah has performed nationally and internationally. Their multidisciplinary work has been awarded financial support by The Brooklyn Arts Council, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Center for Performance Research, Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, Exploring the Metropolis, Mare Nostrum Elements and LaGuardia Performing Arts Center just to name a few. Supported by her guides, Cyrah is currently investing in developing her voice as a digital media artist and is diving into producing ritual based installations as an extension of her performance work. |