Abeng pairs Tyshan Wright’s contemporary take on the Maroons’ most sacred symbol—a carved cow’s horn, called an ‘abeng’—with writer Shauntay Grant’s poetic documentation of Wright’s “Day 1” in Canada, and his call to connect with Maroon history and heritage sites in his new home. The work was created for the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21’s national group exhibition Canada: Day 1.
Shauntay Grant and Tyshan Wright, Abeng, 2017. Wood, cow horn, Maroon beads, kente cloth; 66 x 10 x 30 cm. © Shauntay Grant and Tyshan Wright. Photo: Steve Farmer
Publication courtesy of the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.
Shauntay Grant and Tyshan Wright, Abeng, 2017. Canada: Day 1 exhibition, installation photos. Images courtesy of the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.
Tyshan Wright, Spirit, 2017. Audio recording of Tyshan Wright blowing an abeng. © Tyshan Wright. Producer: Shauntay Grant
“However painful and unpleasant the past, there is the possibility to create something beautiful, magical, and healing out of that pain.”
— Tyshan Wright, from The Past Informs the Future
(Visual Arts News, Summer 2022 edition)