Nari Ward

The title and concept of the work references American poet and activist Emma Lazarus's sonnet “The New Colossus” published in 1883, which appears on a bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The sonnet was written to help fund the project and expresses the credo of America as a maternal country where all exiles and immigrants are welcome. Ward’s LAZARUS Beacon isolates and highlights the subjects of this poem, among them the tired and poor––all of those to whom the country has promised to offer shelter.

This project is curated by Diana Nawi and produced by OBM.