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SUMMARY:The Art of Listening Summer Intensive
DESCRIPTION:Hosted by Stefon Harris\, Alicia Olatuja\, & the Harmony Lab at Express Newark \n4th Floor of Express Newark \nJuly 13th–17th\, 2026 \n10AM–4PM \n  \nWe are extremely excited to offer this week-long ear training\, theory\, vocal\, and improvisation intensive free of charge as a service to our wonderful community of artists\, educators\, and students. \nThis workshop is an intensive for musicians looking to deepen their listening skills and all-around artistry. Participants will work directly with Stefon Harris utilizing his revolutionary app\, Harmony Cloud\, to learn his unique Melodic Progression Ear Training and Theory System. Vocalists will work with Alicia Olatuja following her vocal authenticity training through vocal mastery techniques and mindset mentorship for singers and non-singers alike. Together we will take a deep dive into the world of organized sound and increase our ability to be articulate and empathetic musicians. \nApplication Due on Monday\, May 18th \nTo apply\, you will complete a short questionnaire and submit a recording of yourself performing: Application Link. Applications are due Monday\, May 18th\, and applicants will be notified of their status shortly after. \nApplicants must be 18 years of age or older. Musicians of all levels and musical backgrounds are welcome—we encourage you to apply and share with others who may be interested. Due to limited space\, participants will be selected based on the applications received. \nTestimonials\n“Beautiful\, incredible – thank you so much for this opportunity.” – I.K. \n“It was such an invaluable experience! I feel so lucky to have participated in this\, and being around this group of musicians reminded me why I’m on this journey in the first place!” – A.C. \n“Stefon is a master artist and teacher. Stefon shared decades of his melodic and harmonic knowledge and research and was very effective in teaching his methods across a range of instruments and levels. Furthermore\, I enjoyed and appreciated discussion of the spiritual\, humanistic\, cultural\, and historical context of the music as well. This was one of the best workshops I have ever been a part of.” – T.Z. \nContact Us\nFor any questions\, email us at harmony.lab@rutgers.edu.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/the-art-of-listening-summer-intensive-5/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Event,Workshop
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20260716T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20260716T160000
DTSTAMP:20260415T011927Z
CREATED:20260415T011927Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260415T011927Z
UID:10000027-1784196000-1784217600@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:The Art of Listening Summer Intensive
DESCRIPTION:Hosted by Stefon Harris\, Alicia Olatuja\, & the Harmony Lab at Express Newark \n4th Floor of Express Newark \nJuly 13th–17th\, 2026 \n10AM–4PM \n  \nWe are extremely excited to offer this week-long ear training\, theory\, vocal\, and improvisation intensive free of charge as a service to our wonderful community of artists\, educators\, and students. \nThis workshop is an intensive for musicians looking to deepen their listening skills and all-around artistry. Participants will work directly with Stefon Harris utilizing his revolutionary app\, Harmony Cloud\, to learn his unique Melodic Progression Ear Training and Theory System. Vocalists will work with Alicia Olatuja following her vocal authenticity training through vocal mastery techniques and mindset mentorship for singers and non-singers alike. Together we will take a deep dive into the world of organized sound and increase our ability to be articulate and empathetic musicians. \nApplication Due on Monday\, May 18th \nTo apply\, you will complete a short questionnaire and submit a recording of yourself performing: Application Link. Applications are due Monday\, May 18th\, and applicants will be notified of their status shortly after. \nApplicants must be 18 years of age or older. Musicians of all levels and musical backgrounds are welcome—we encourage you to apply and share with others who may be interested. Due to limited space\, participants will be selected based on the applications received. \nTestimonials\n“Beautiful\, incredible – thank you so much for this opportunity.” – I.K. \n“It was such an invaluable experience! I feel so lucky to have participated in this\, and being around this group of musicians reminded me why I’m on this journey in the first place!” – A.C. \n“Stefon is a master artist and teacher. Stefon shared decades of his melodic and harmonic knowledge and research and was very effective in teaching his methods across a range of instruments and levels. Furthermore\, I enjoyed and appreciated discussion of the spiritual\, humanistic\, cultural\, and historical context of the music as well. This was one of the best workshops I have ever been a part of.” – T.Z. \nContact Us\nFor any questions\, email us at harmony.lab@rutgers.edu.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/the-art-of-listening-summer-intensive-4/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Event,Workshop
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20260715T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20260715T160000
DTSTAMP:20260415T011752Z
CREATED:20260415T011715Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260415T011752Z
UID:10000026-1784109600-1784131200@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:The Art of Listening Summer Intensive
DESCRIPTION:Hosted by Stefon Harris\, Alicia Olatuja\, & the Harmony Lab at Express Newark \n4th Floor of Express Newark \nJuly 13th–17th\, 2026 \n10AM–4PM \n  \nWe are extremely excited to offer this week-long ear training\, theory\, vocal\, and improvisation intensive free of charge as a service to our wonderful community of artists\, educators\, and students. \nThis workshop is an intensive for musicians looking to deepen their listening skills and all-around artistry. Participants will work directly with Stefon Harris utilizing his revolutionary app\, Harmony Cloud\, to learn his unique Melodic Progression Ear Training and Theory System. Vocalists will work with Alicia Olatuja following her vocal authenticity training through vocal mastery techniques and mindset mentorship for singers and non-singers alike. Together we will take a deep dive into the world of organized sound and increase our ability to be articulate and empathetic musicians. \nApplication Due on Monday\, May 18th \nTo apply\, you will complete a short questionnaire and submit a recording of yourself performing: Application Link. Applications are due Monday\, May 18th\, and applicants will be notified of their status shortly after. \nApplicants must be 18 years of age or older. Musicians of all levels and musical backgrounds are welcome—we encourage you to apply and share with others who may be interested. Due to limited space\, participants will be selected based on the applications received. \nTestimonials\n“Beautiful\, incredible – thank you so much for this opportunity.” – I.K. \n“It was such an invaluable experience! I feel so lucky to have participated in this\, and being around this group of musicians reminded me why I’m on this journey in the first place!” – A.C. \n“Stefon is a master artist and teacher. Stefon shared decades of his melodic and harmonic knowledge and research and was very effective in teaching his methods across a range of instruments and levels. Furthermore\, I enjoyed and appreciated discussion of the spiritual\, humanistic\, cultural\, and historical context of the music as well. This was one of the best workshops I have ever been a part of.” – T.Z. \nContact Us\nFor any questions\, email us at harmony.lab@rutgers.edu.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/the-art-of-listening-summer-intensive-3/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Event,Workshop
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20260714T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20260714T160000
DTSTAMP:20260415T011520Z
CREATED:20260415T011520Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260415T011520Z
UID:10000025-1784023200-1784044800@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:The Art of Listening Summer Intensive
DESCRIPTION:Hosted by Stefon Harris\, Alicia Olatuja\, & the Harmony Lab at Express Newark \n4th Floor of Express Newark \nJuly 13th–17th\, 2026 \n10AM–4PM \n  \nWe are extremely excited to offer this week-long ear training\, theory\, vocal\, and improvisation intensive free of charge as a service to our wonderful community of artists\, educators\, and students. \nThis workshop is an intensive for musicians looking to deepen their listening skills and all-around artistry. Participants will work directly with Stefon Harris utilizing his revolutionary app\, Harmony Cloud\, to learn his unique Melodic Progression Ear Training and Theory System. Vocalists will work with Alicia Olatuja following her vocal authenticity training through vocal mastery techniques and mindset mentorship for singers and non-singers alike. Together we will take a deep dive into the world of organized sound and increase our ability to be articulate and empathetic musicians. \nApplication Due on Monday\, May 18th \nTo apply\, you will complete a short questionnaire and submit a recording of yourself performing: Application Link. Applications are due Monday\, May 18th\, and applicants will be notified of their status shortly after. \nApplicants must be 18 years of age or older. Musicians of all levels and musical backgrounds are welcome—we encourage you to apply and share with others who may be interested. Due to limited space\, participants will be selected based on the applications received. \nTestimonials\n“Beautiful\, incredible – thank you so much for this opportunity.” – I.K. \n“It was such an invaluable experience! I feel so lucky to have participated in this\, and being around this group of musicians reminded me why I’m on this journey in the first place!” – A.C. \n“Stefon is a master artist and teacher. Stefon shared decades of his melodic and harmonic knowledge and research and was very effective in teaching his methods across a range of instruments and levels. Furthermore\, I enjoyed and appreciated discussion of the spiritual\, humanistic\, cultural\, and historical context of the music as well. This was one of the best workshops I have ever been a part of.” – T.Z. \nContact Us\nFor any questions\, email us at harmony.lab@rutgers.edu.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/the-art-of-listening-summer-intensive-2/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Event,Workshop
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20260713T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20260713T160000
DTSTAMP:20260417T123740Z
CREATED:20260414T183858Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260417T123740Z
UID:10000024-1783936800-1783958400@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:The Art of Listening Summer Intensive
DESCRIPTION:Hosted by Stefon Harris\, Alicia Olatuja\, & the Harmony Lab at Express Newark \n4th Floor of Express Newark \nJuly 13th–17th\, 2026 \n10AM–4PM \n  \nWe are extremely excited to offer this week-long ear training\, theory\, vocal\, and improvisation intensive free of charge as a service to our wonderful community of artists\, educators\, and students. \nThis workshop is an intensive for musicians looking to deepen their listening skills and all-around artistry. Participants will work directly with Stefon Harris utilizing his revolutionary app\, Harmony Cloud\, to learn his unique Melodic Progression Ear Training and Theory System. Vocalists will work with Alicia Olatuja following her vocal authenticity training through vocal mastery techniques and mindset mentorship for singers and non-singers alike. Together we will take a deep dive into the world of organized sound and increase our ability to be articulate and empathetic musicians. \nApplication Due on Monday\, May 18th \nTo apply\, you will complete a short questionnaire and submit a recording of yourself performing: Application Link. Applications are due Monday\, May 18th\, and applicants will be notified of their status shortly after. \nApplicants must be 18 years of age or older. Musicians of all levels and musical backgrounds are welcome—we encourage you to apply and share with others who may be interested. Due to limited space\, participants will be selected based on the applications received. \nTestimonials\n“Beautiful\, incredible – thank you so much for this opportunity.” – I.K. \n“It was such an invaluable experience! I feel so lucky to have participated in this\, and being around this group of musicians reminded me why I’m on this journey in the first place!” – A.C. \n“Stefon is a master artist and teacher. Stefon shared decades of his melodic and harmonic knowledge and research and was very effective in teaching his methods across a range of instruments and levels. Furthermore\, I enjoyed and appreciated discussion of the spiritual\, humanistic\, cultural\, and historical context of the music as well. This was one of the best workshops I have ever been a part of.” – T.Z. \nContact Us\nFor any questions\, email us at harmony.lab@rutgers.edu.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/the-art-of-listening-summer-intensive/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Event,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://expressnewark.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Banner-Summer-Intensive-2026-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20251009T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20251009T210000
DTSTAMP:20251025T211637Z
CREATED:20250918T172702Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251025T211637Z
UID:10000023-1760029200-1760043600@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:RHYTHM CHANGES
DESCRIPTION:ANNUAL THEME\nEntering a new season\, EN’s 2025-2026 annual theme is RHYTHM CHANGES\, which embraces improvisation and courageously dances with the inevitable rhythm of change. As a community\, we seek flow\, choose joy in uncertainty\, and create unity in the rhythm of people’s hearts. Through art\, design\, digital storytelling\, music\, and performance\, we’ll explore how rhythm helps us move together through change. \nRHYTHM CHANGES expands EN’s reach with new offerings in music\, printmaking\, and sculpture fabrication; deepens community educational programs; and presents exhibitions in art\, design\, photography\, film\, and public art. The season also features three Artists-in-Residence\, an Organization-in-Residence\, an extended installation\, and a series of artist-activated happenings that bring the theme to life. \nOn October 9\, 2025\, Express Newark hosted a season kick-off with a fireside chat featuring Stefon Harris and Chancellor Tonya Smith-Jackson\, presentations by our community partners and studios\, followed by the opening of four exhibitions and the extension of two others. \nClick to learn more about the EXHIBITIONS
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/rhythm-changes/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://expressnewark.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mary-fields-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20250628T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20250628T180000
DTSTAMP:20250611T153926Z
CREATED:20250611T153926Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250611T153926Z
UID:10000022-1751106600-1751133600@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Muslim Voices of Newark
DESCRIPTION:Join us on Saturday June 28th for Muslim Voices of Newark\, a symposium of film\, art and talks centering stories of the Muslim experience here in Newark and throughout the history of America. The day-long event will feature film screenings\, lunch\, panel discussions\, a reception\, and access to Express Newark’s 2025 art exhibition\, Powers of the Unseen. \nThe films presented will include a special presentation of the landmark PBS series\, American Muslims: A History Revealed\, and will premiere three new documentary short films created by the inaugural cohort of our Muslim Voices of Newark filmmaking program. \nPanel discussions will feature: \n\nChester Higgins\, artist and photojournalist\nSister Laila Muhammad\, poet and community advocate\nAymann Ismail\, author\, journalist\, host\, American Muslims: A History Revealed\nDr. Kalenah Witcher\, Educator\, Psychologist\, Muslim Voices of Newark filmmaker\nBibi Stewart\, Organizer\, Educator\, Muslim Voices of Newark filmmaker\nNew Freedom Works (Imam MujahidDeen Mohammed\, Marsha Nivins Mohammed\, and Imam Bilal Hassan)\, Muslim Voices of Newark filmmakers\n\nThe conversation will be led by celebrated scholar\, author\, and academic advisor for American Muslims: A History Revealed\, Dr. Zain Abdullah. \nThis program is the culminating event of a series of exhibitions and events exploring Express Newark’s 2024-2025 annual theme\, RITUAL. The theme explores the relationship between Islamic spiritual practices\, rituals\, and creative expression—featuring experimentations in photography\, film\, sound art\, and textiles. These projects span Newark\, which has long been home to one of the nation’s largest African American Muslim communities\, while also branching out beyond the domestic borders of the United States to unite members of the global community. \nThe Muslim Voices of Newark filmmaking program is a partnership between Express Newark’s Community Media Center and Philadelphia’s Scribe Video Center. Scribe created Muslim Voices\, a national community history project supporting Muslim storytellers in creating short documentary films highlighting Muslim experiences and histories. The initiative is designed to highlight and celebrate the presence\, history\, contributions\, and challenges of African American Muslims in America. \nImage from “Muslims of Hunterdon Street“\, courtesy of the filmmaker\, Dr. Kalenah Witcher
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/muslim-voices-of-newark/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://expressnewark.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/muslim-voices.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250225
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250801
DTSTAMP:20250328T165026Z
CREATED:20250328T165026Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T165026Z
UID:10000021-1740441600-1754006399@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Sacred Rugs: Contemplation\, Hope and Resilience
DESCRIPTION:Curated by Anthony Alvarez and Dahlia Elsayed \nPrayer rugs hold deep cultural significance and serve as mediums for contemplation. Adorned with symbols of hope and faith\, they inspire resilience and remind us of light in times of darkness. These spaces\, often woven with stories of struggle and perseverance\, illustrate how beauty can emerge from adversity. Beyond functionality\, prayer rugs are cultural artifacts and weave together stories of identity\, tradition\, and spirituality. By understanding their importance\, one gains an appreciation for diverse cultural practices. As powerful aesthetic forms\, prayer rugs invite reflection on our spiritual journeys and the strength drawn from one’s roots and rituals\, celebrating the resilience and beauty they hold. \nThis installation showcases the work of Rutgers-Newark’s students enrolled in the fall 2024 class\, “Problems in Contemporary Art\,” led by Anthony Alvarez. Collaborating with artist Dahlia Elsayed\, SHINE Portrait Studio Artist-in-Residence\, the course investigated Elsayed’s artistic practice and developed critical insights that informed the creation of new rugs. Through readings\, research\, and hands-on making over six weeks\, students explored how their expressions intersected with Elsayed’s art practice. Together\, Alvarez and Elsayed encouraged students to consider the prayer rug as a medium for contemplation\, hope\, and resilience\, inspiring them to envision aesthetic futures that challenge fear and despair. \nThe “Problems in Contemporary Art” class was taught by Anthony Alvarez\, Coordinator of Express Newark’s Free School\, Associate Director\, SHINE Portrait Studio\, and Lecturer of Fine Arts\, Department of Arts\, Culture and Media\, with Artist-in-Residence\, Dahlia Elsayed.  \nExhibiting Artists: Christeen Abdelshahied\, Carmelle Alexis\, Caylie Baker\, Brit Derilus\, Victor Elizondo-Martinez\, Bryan Euvin\, Amber Evans\, Daniel Flores\, David Gonzalez\, Jazmyne Johnson\, Vylette Mcknight\, Aasiyah Rogers\, Sonam Salvi\, and Imani Southerland
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/sacred-rugs-contemplation-hope-and-resilience/
LOCATION:Window Gallery\, Paul Robeson Galleries
CATEGORIES:Exhibition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://expressnewark.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Ritual_69-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250225
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250801
DTSTAMP:20250225T021947Z
CREATED:20250225T015627Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250225T021947Z
UID:10000018-1740441600-1754006399@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Powers of the Unseen
DESCRIPTION:The Muslim concept of the Unseen (الغيب or al-ghayb) refers to that which is hidden from the visible world and beyond human perception. In this exhibit\, the Unseen frames the work of thirteen international contemporary artists whose varied approaches to photography examine the frontier between opacity and transparency\, the intersection of spirituality and art\, and the limits of perception and representation. \nIn the artworks\, the Unseen manifests as a form of unknowability—a dimension that shapes our reality. The photographs highlight the hidden\, the invisible\, the secret\, and the absent\, concepts associated with Sufi Islam\, a powerful tradition of spiritual contemplation in which aspirants seek to experience the divine. By using photography to explore these themes\, the artworks shift the burden of representation from those under scrutiny to the beholder. Instead of easily perceived content\, the subject remains partially obscured and layered with meanings that call for deeper rumination. This process invokes the Sufi path\, where discipline\, service\, and ritual observance gradually reveal truths that previously eluded recognition. \nSince its invention in 1839\, photography has been bound by a similar paradox. The camera strives to capture the truth while simultaneously suppressing it. Photography often promises realism or an honest representation by documenting the visible world\, yet it is inherently limited by its medium. Many external forces – like the technological limits of the camera\, the inherent qualities of people or objects in the frame\, or the surrounding societal power structures – prevent a photograph from fully representing reality. For example\, a photograph can document a birth or a death but can never fully capture the origins of life or the pain when it is lost. It is not just the subject of the photograph that falls short but also the incomplete feelings that a photograph evokes. Photography’s fragmented reality fails to fully capture the essence of the truth it promises. The concept of the Unseen gives us a new way to think about photography. \nWhile many of the artists have some relationship with Muslim-majority contexts around the world\, their work resists singular labels. As the exhibit includes African\, Asian\, European\, and American artists\, it questions the standard geographies of the “Muslim World\,” usually associated with North Africa and Southwest Asia. Artists based in Milan\, Italy\, as well as Newark\, appear alongside artists from Brooklyn\, New York\, and Dakar\, Senegal\, exhibiting the global reach of photography and spirituality in contemporary art. Some adhere to the documentary style of photojournalism\, while others experiment with the materiality of the photographic process to produce abstract images. \nTransparent knowledge based on observable reality often requires dehumanizing objectification. Race\, for example\, is supposedly rationalized on a scientific basis through visible differences among populations. It is rendered visible through photography and other means of violent exploitation. This historical injustice in the representation of these visible differences must be rectified. Thus\, representation is a conundrum: it is both imperative and perilous. Through their engagement with the Unseen via photography\, the artworks in this show offer a third way\, reassigning the responsibility of the labor of representation to the viewer.  \nExhibiting Artists\nYasi Alipour\, Laylah Amatullah Barrayn\, Younes Baba-Ali\, Charlotte Brathwaite\, Nene Aïssatou Diallo\, Binta Diaw\, Bruno Hadjih\, Chester Higgins\, Amina Kadous\, Baseera Khan\, Gordon Parks\, Kameelah Janan Rasheed\, and Malick Welli\n \nCurators\nSandrine Colard\, Wendell Marsh\, Alex Dika Seggerman\, and Aude Tournaye \nExhibition Design \nAD—WO: Emanuel Admassu\, Jen Wood\, and Katherine Solien
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/powers-of-the-unseen/
LOCATION:Paul Robeson Gallery\, Express Newark
CATEGORIES:Exhibition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://expressnewark.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Spirit5_8x5.333.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250225
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250801
DTSTAMP:20250225T211427Z
CREATED:20250225T014022Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250225T211427Z
UID:10000017-1740441600-1754006399@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Carroussa Sonore
DESCRIPTION:Carroussa Sonore: Newark\nYounes Baba-Ali  \nExpress Newark welcomes multimedia artist Younes Baba-Ali as its first international Artist-in-Residence. Baba-Ali is a Moroccan-born artist based in Brussels who engages the public by mixing technology\, objects\, sound\, video\, and photography with political\, social\, and ecological issues. Throughout his residency\, he developed the performance and installation “Carroussa Sonore\,” which translates to “sounding cart\,” engaging those who live and work in Newark. Originally\, the “carroussa” was a makeshift vending cart used by merchants on the streets of Morocco and other North African cities to sell recitals of the Quran or sermons from popular preachers. In this iteration\, local artists and students worked closely with Baba-Ali to create site-specific sound artworks performed throughout Newark neighborhoods by street vendors and performance artists. “Carroussa Sonore” departs from a religious act and becomes an intervention that archives urban soundscapes\, abstract noises\, and alternative narratives throughout the African Diaspora. \nParticipating Artists \nAli Motamedi (Ir/Us)\, Amélie Laurence Fortin (Can/Pl)\, Binta Diaw (sn/it)\, Fajr Kegler (Us)\, Haochun Yang & KeKeZ(Chn/Us)\, Jamilah Malika Abu-Bakare (Nga/Us)\, Khaled Jarrar (Pse/Us)\, Laïssa C. Alexis (Hti/Us)\, Magali A Cult (Hkg/Us)\, Nene Aïssatou Diallo (Gin/Us)\, Paul Pinto (Us)\, Richard Garet (Ury/Us)\, Shara Lunon (Us)\, The Just Now Orchestra (Ukr/Us)\, Tiffany Salas (Us)\, Vanessa Blake (Us)\, Wannes Deneer (Be)\, and Younes Baba-Ali (Ma/Be) \n \nRead the Catalogue\n  \nSchedule of Performances : \nNEWARK – February 25\, 2025\, 10.00 AM – 1.00PM \nDeparture: Express Newark \nNEW YORK – February 28\, 2025\, 6.00 PM – 8.00 PM \nDeparture: Flanders House Destination: Fridman Gallery \nFollowed by the exhibition opening of Cities and Eyes (7.30 PM – 9.00 PM)\, curated by Anouk Focquier (Berserk Art Agency). \nNEW YORK – March 2\, 2025\, 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM \nDeparture: Fridman Gallery Destination: Lenfest Center for the Arts \nFollowed by the panel discussion: Inviting Imagination: Artistic Generosity as Resistance to Exclusivity (3:00–5:00 PM) moderated by Katharina Otto-Bernstein. \nNEWARK – MAY\, 2025 \nDeparture: Express Newark More details on the final performance will be announced via expressnewark.org \nProduced by: Express Newark \n54 Halsey Street\, 2nd Floor \nNewark\, NJ \nCollaborating venues: \nFridman Gallery 169 Bowery\, NYC \nLenfest Center for the Arts\, Columbia University 615 W 129th St\, NYC \nFlanders House New York Times Building\, 620 8th Ave\, 38th Floor\, NYC \nProject collaborators \nAlliyah Allen (Production)\, Hervé S. Denis (Videography)\, Abigail Geronimo (Assistance/Mediation)\, Fajr Kegler (Performance/Mediation)\,  Yucef Mayes (Mediation)\, and Aude Tournaye (Photography) \nSpecial Thanks to: Salamishah Tillet\, Nick Kline\, Anthony Alvarez\, Alex Dika Seggerman\, Wendell Marsh\, Sandrine Colard\, Iliya Fridman\, Seth Cluett\, Miya Masaoka\, Pat Sweeting\, Yvonne Shirley\, Karen Bernard\, Anonda Bell\, Bryant Lebron\, Gwen Thomas\, Juan Giraldo\, and Gil Hochberg.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/carroussa-sonore/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Exhibition
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250225
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250801
DTSTAMP:20250328T164656Z
CREATED:20250328T164625Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T164656Z
UID:10000020-1740441600-1754006399@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Subtle Centers
DESCRIPTION:By Dahlia Elsayed and Andrew Demirjian  \nImagined by SHINE Portrait Studio artist-in-residence Dahlia Elsayed\, in collaboration with artist Andrew Demirjian\, “Subtle Centers” is an immersive installation that meditates on the permeability between interiorities and exteriorities\, prompting visitors to imagine a space between the physical and spiritual worlds collectively. Transforming Express Newark’s second-floor Box Gallery into an invented outdoor courtyard featuring mirrored reflection\, moving sounds\, and tangible objects\, the space offers an invitation from the material world for greater comprehension and interpretation of the immaterial. \nThe poetry heard in this installation is based on the “Revelation of the Divine Secrets” by Sultan-ul-Arifeen Hazrat Sakhi Sultan Bahoo\, written in the late 17th century and translated from the original Persian by Ambreen Moghees Sarwari Qadri. A compact booklet that condenses some of the key teachings of Sultan Bahoo\, it functions as a guidebook for seekers of divine knowledge. The artists used computational methods of parsing and analyzing the text to find resonant linguistic and semantic patterns. One approach uses a collection of infinitive verb phrases from the booklet\, while another takes form as a permutation poem that lifts one phrase from the text and exhaustively recombines it. Other sequences focus on the role of the heart in the path towards spiritual insight. \nRutgers student Jaila Benson also contributed text based on prompts provided during a visit to Professor Wendell Marsh’s class\, Islam in the African-American Experience. The speakers were constructed by Jason Stumpf and Neil O’Brien.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/subtle-centers/
LOCATION:Box Gallery\, Paul Robeson Galleries
CATEGORIES:Exhibition
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250225
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250701
DTSTAMP:20250328T164220Z
CREATED:20250328T164220Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T164220Z
UID:10000019-1740441600-1751327999@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Woven Prayers
DESCRIPTION:Artist Nzingah Oyo presents “Woven Prayers\,” a series of large-scale portraits staged in front of hand-sewn prayer rugs that contemplate the complexities of faith\, hope\, and connection in a world yearning for meaning. Activating Express Newark’s Lobby\, Oyo’s images build from her “Dreams and Prayers” series to spotlight members of Newark’s local Muslim community —families\, students\, and spiritual leaders—to bring greater visibility to their intergenerational practices and legacies. Her hand-sewn prayer rug scales to roughly fifteen feet high\, and is made up of a series of smaller prayer rugs that Oyo has collected. The portrait sessions were held in the SHINE Portrait Studio at Express Newark.  \nTextiles\, particularly the diverse colors\, designs\, and textures of prayer rugs\, served as an early inspiration for Oyo’s work and can be seen incorporated into many of her photographic compositions.  A Woven Prayer (sajjādat) #3 is Oyo’s third iteration of her practice of selecting\, assembling\, and sewing individual prayer rugs from her personal collection to create one larger prayer rug. Whereas prior prayer rug tapestries served as backdrops in Oyo’s photographs\, here Oyo moves to physically center the work in a space of installation in Express Newark\, inviting the viewer to an intimate and surreal encounter of ritual and connection. In reflecting on the significance of prayer rugs and the work\, Oyo noted\, “It represents a place and space for peace not only within one’s home but within themselves… I wanted to share this experience that many feel when entering the Masjid––a sense of peace and calm.” \n 
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/woven-prayers/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Exhibition
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250225
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250226
DTSTAMP:20250918T172904Z
CREATED:20250121T143358Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250918T172904Z
UID:10000016-1740441600-1740527999@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:RITUAL Opening
DESCRIPTION:Express Newark’s 2024-2025 annual theme Ritual is a series of exhibitions and events that explore the relationship between Islamic spiritual practices\, rituals\, and art—featuring experimentations in photography\, film\, sound art\, and textiles. Ritual features work by artists\, curators\, students\, and community members who’ve immersed themselves in nonsecular expressions of spirituality and Islamic traditions across the Muslim world. These works span Newark\, which has long been home to one of our nation’s largest African American Muslim communities\, while also branching out beyond the domestic borders of the United States to unite members of the global community. \nBy bridging traditional spiritual practices and aesthetic innovations\, these artistic explorations turn towards Muslim interiorities—an often underrepresented perspective in art—to create timely meditations that center art and ritual and inspire new discourses\, worldviews\, and conversations about belief and identity. \n\n\n\n\nImage: Malick Welli in collaboration with Charlotte Brathwaite\, Forgotten Paradise #2\, from the series Dream the Other Side of the River \nOpening Reception: February 25\, 2025 \nExhibitions On View: February 25 – July 31\, 2025 \nRSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/express-newark-presents-ritual-tickets-1142909094869?aff=oddtdtcreator \n\n\n\n\nExhibitions\nPowers of the Unseen \nIn the Paul Robeson Gallery\, the exhibition “Powers of the Unseen” features photography works that explore the Muslim concept of the Unseen (al-Ghayb)\, which refers to that which is hidden from the visible world and beyond human perception. In this exhibit\, the theory of the Unseen frames photography by thirteen international artists\, including Laylah Amatullah Barrayn\, Chester Higgins\, Gordon Parks\, Kameelah Janan Rasheed\,and Malick Welli.These artists explore the frontier between the visible and invisible\, the intersection of spirituality and photography\, and the limits of perception and representation. While many artists have some relationship with Muslim-majority contexts worldwide\, their work resists singular labels. \n\nFeatured Artists: Yasi Alipour\, Laylah Amatullah Barrayn\, Younes Baba-Ali\, Charlotte Brathwaite\, Nene Aïssatou Diallo\, Binta Diaw\, Bruno Hadjih\, Chester Higgins\, Amina Kadous\, Baseera Khan\, Gordon Parks\, Kameelah Janan Rasheed\, and Malick Welli \n\nAs the exhibit includes European\, American\, and African artists\, it also questions the standard geographies of the “Muslim World.” Amidst calls for inclusive representation across spheres of public life\, this work challenges us to consider the right to remain hidden. Powers of the Unseen is co-curated by Sandrine Colard\, Wendell Marsh\, Alex Dika Seggerman\, and Aude Tournaye and will be on view until July 31\, 2025. \nWoven Prayers\, Nzingah Oyo \nPhotographer Nzingah Oyois presenting “Woven Prayers\,” in which the artist captures large-scale portraits in front of hand-sewn prayer rugs to contemplate the complexities of faith\, hope\, and connection in a world yearning for meaning. Activating across the entire second floor of Express Newark\, Oyo invites members from the local Muslim community to participate in the portrait sessions held in the SHINE Portrait Studio. \nSacred Rugs: Contemplation\, Hope\, Resilience \nAcross in the Windows Gallery\, “Sacred Rugs: Contemplation\, Hope\, Resilience” showcases the work of fourteen students who completed the fall 2024 class\, “Problems in Contemporary Art: Ritual.” The course\, led by Assistant Director of SHINE Portrait Studio\, Anthony Alvarez\, encouraged Rutgers students to develop critical insights informed by Elsayed’s artistic practice and to design and create new rugs. Together\, Alvarez and Elsayed urged students to consider the prayer rug as a medium for contemplation\, hope\, and resilience\, inspiring them to envision aesthetic futures that challenge fear and despair. \nFeatured Artists: Christeen Abdelshahied\, Carmelle Alexis\, Caylie Baker\, Brit Derilus\, Victor Elizondo-Martinez\, Bryan Euvin\, Amber Evans\, Daniel Flores\, David Gonzalez\, Jazmyne Johnson\, Vylette Mcknight\, Aasiyah Rogers\, Sonam Salvi\, and Imani Southerland \nCarroussa Sonore\, Younes Baba Ali \nExpress Newark welcomes multimedia artist Younes Baba Ali as its first international Artist-in-Residence. Baba Ali is a Moroccan-born artist based in Brussels who engages the public by mixing technology\, objects\, sound\, video\, and photography with political\, social\, and ecological issues. Throughout his residency\, he is developing a two-part installation\, “Carroussa Sonore\,” which translates to “sounding cart\,” that engages those who live and work in Newark. Local artists and students work closely with Baba Ali to create site-specific sound artworks performed throughout Newark neighborhoods by street vendors and performance artists. “Carroussa Sonore” departs from a religious act and becomes an intervention that archives urban soundscapes\, abstract noises\, and alternative narratives throughout the African Diaspora. \nFeatured Artists: Ali Motamedi (Ir/Us)\, Amélie Laurence Fortin (Can/Pl)\, Binta Diaw (sn/it)\, Fajr Kegler (Us)\, Haochun Yang & KeKeZ(Chn/Us)\, Jamilah Malika Abu-Bakare (Nga/Us)\, Khaled Jarrar (Pse/Us)\, Laïssa C. Alexis (Hti/Us)\, Magali A Cult (Hkg/Us)\, Nene Aïssatou Diallo (Gin/Us)\, Paul Pinto (Us)\, Richard Garet (Ury/Us)\, Shara Lunon (Us)\, The Just Now Orchestra (Ukr/Us)\, Tiffany Salas (Us)\, Vanessa Blake (Us)\, Wannes Dender (Be)\, and Younes Baba-Ali (Ma/Be) \nSubtle Centers\, Dahlia Elsayed & Andrew Demirjian \n“Subtle Centers\,” an immersive installation imagined by SHINE Portrait Studio artist-in-residence Dahlia Elsayed\, in collaboration with artist Andrew Demirjian. This immersive installation meditates on the permeability between interiorities and exteriorities\, prompting visitors to imagine a space between the physical and spiritual worlds collectively. Transforming the Box Gallery into an invented outdoor courtyard featuring mirrored reflection\, moving sounds\, and tangible objects\, the space offers an invitation from the material world for greater comprehension and interpretation of the immaterial.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/express-newark-presents-ritual/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Event
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20241121T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20241121T200000
DTSTAMP:20241029T193303Z
CREATED:20241029T185941Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241029T193303Z
UID:10000013-1732212000-1732219200@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Artist Talk: Daphne Arthur
DESCRIPTION:Daphne Arthur’s practice navigates the interconnection of experiences beyond boundaries\, exploring the kinship between human relations and nature in the delicate thread that balances ecosystems of cosmic existence. Within the intersection of the personal and universal\, her allegories integrate interior\, exterior\, micro\, and macro futuristic spaces where BIPOC protagonists emerge\, exploring the roles history\, memory\, and mythology play within the transformation or deterioration of the collective imaginary of people from the diaspora. \nFor additional information\, contact: anthony.alvarez@rutgers.edu  \nSponsored by: Rutgers University-Newark’s Fine Art Program\, Department of Arts\, Culture & Media\, SHINE Portrait Studio\, Express Newark\, and School of Arts & Sciences Newark \nEntrance: 54 Halsey St\, Hahne & Co. building\, Express Newark 2nd Floor
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/artist-talk-daphne-arthur/
CATEGORIES:Event
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20241030T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20241030T203000
DTSTAMP:20241029T185134Z
CREATED:20241029T185134Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241029T185134Z
UID:10000012-1730309400-1730320200@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Brand Launch Party
DESCRIPTION:Express Newark is pleased to celebrate its refreshed brand identity\, highlighting Newark as a vanguard of art and activism. The new visual identity foregrounds a black-and-white palette that nods to our city’s past\, while the bold type emphasizes our drive toward artistic experimentation and collaboration. The new brand system reflects our name: Express—a gathering place for ideas\, innovation\, and creativity; Newark—a vibrant cosmos of cultural work\, community accountability\, and civic pride. This rebrand acknowledges Rutgers University – Newark’s ongoing commitment to the campus\, community\, and the city’s dynamic arts ecosystem. The updated look will be rolled out throughout the fall via new signage\, digital and print collateral\, a social campaign\, and a new website. \nThe program will feature a live-music performance by Alicia Olatuja\, screen-printing and photography activities\, and light refreshments. Doors will open at 5:30 pm. This event is free and open to the public. Our venue is wheelchair accessible; elevator access is provided at the Halsey Street entrance to Hahne & Company.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/brand-launch-party/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Event
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20240403T183000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20240403T200000
DTSTAMP:20240209T043657Z
CREATED:20240203T005649Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240209T043657Z
UID:10000006-1712169000-1712174400@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Children of the Cosmos: A Public Conversation with Mayor Ras Baraka and Dr. Kellie Jones & Moderated by Salamishah Tillet
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/children-of-the-cosmos/
CATEGORIES:Event
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20240307T183000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20240307T200000
DTSTAMP:20240203T005814Z
CREATED:20240119T030434Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240203T005814Z
UID:10000005-1709836200-1709841600@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Aliveness and the Black Poem: Public Readings and Conversation with Nikky Finney\, Kevin Quashie\, Evie Shockley\, Tracy K. Smith & Moderated by John Keene
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/aliveness-and-the-black-poem/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20240220T180000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20240220T210000
DTSTAMP:20250529T135210Z
CREATED:20240112T233920Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250529T135210Z
UID:10000004-1708452000-1708462800@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Blues People Opening Reception
DESCRIPTION:Blues People has always meant a great deal to me. It was a dramatic self-confirmation\, as a personal intellectual and artistic “presence\,” but also as the expression of a set of ideas and measures that I have carried with me for many years. Most\, even until today. –Amiri Baraka \nInspired by the 60th anniversary of the acclaimed book Blues People: Negro Music in White America by writer\, poet\, and political activist Leroi Jones\, who later renamed himself Amiri Baraka\, visual artists – Derrick Adams\, Adama Delphine Fawundu\, Adebunmi Gbadebo\, Cesar Melgar\, and Accra Shepp – have reimagined a pivotal work of theirs and created five newly commissioned art installations in Express Newark that explore what it means to be “Blues People” in the twenty-first century. \nOpening Reception: Tuesday\, February 20th 6:00pm – 9:00pm
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/blues-people-opening-reception/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Event
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240220
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240720
DTSTAMP:20240220T202157Z
CREATED:20240220T201105Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240220T202157Z
UID:10000010-1708387200-1721433599@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:At the Bottom of the Atlantic Ocean There's a Railroad Made of Human Bones
DESCRIPTION:At the Bottom of the Atlantic Ocean There’s a Railroad Made of Human Bones\nAdebunmi Gbadebo\nAfter losing her mother\, Brenda Ravenell\, to COVID-19 in 2020\, Adebunmi Gbadebo traveled to the True Blue Plantation\, where her ancestors were enslaved in Fort Motte\, South Carolina. Connecting with her cousin\, Jackie Whitmore\, Gbadebo created a memorial for her mother at the True Blue Cemetery\, a burial ground for her enslaved family members and their descendants. When she returned to her art studio after these tragedies\, Gbadebo found a large circle sheet created from a pool of leftover cotton\, hair\, water\, and indigo dye. For Gbadebo\, these dried-together materials had taken a shape that symbolized the cycles of her grief and healing process. Pulling inspiration from Amiri Baraka’s performance of his “Why’s\, Y’s\, Wise” poem\, a long poem in the tradition of the Djalí (Griots)\, she titled the piece “At the Bottom of the Atlantic Ocean There’s a Railroad Made of Human Bones.” \nReturning to her mother’s burial site\, which is located next to Gbadebo’s great-great-great-uncle William Ravenel\, works with her cousin Benny Haynes to create the “At the Bottom of the Atlantic Ocean There’s a Railroad Made of Human Bones II.”  \nFor the third textile in this series\, Gbadebo used screen prints of Ravenel’s image by incorporating strokes of indigo dye. Her practice blends the use of historically charged materials like cotton and black hair with abstract expressionism to open larger narratives about slavery\, Fort Motte\, and her family’s history. \nGbadebo invited filmmaker and Express Newark’s Community Media Center director Yvonne Michelle Shirley and CMC member Vanessa Blake to document her creation of these new works in Fort Motte\, South Carolina\, and her studio in Philadelphia. On their journey\, Gbadebo sourced water from the historic Congaree River\, once used to transport enslaved peoples and goods\, and from Haynes’s private property. The film\, “Visions in the Blackness” captures Gbadebo’s first visit to Fort Motte in the winter when she noticed how the cotton harvested there was hauled into large six-foot bales\, and the circular form resonated with the shape of the original work she set out to recreate. \n \nVisions in the Blackness from Express Newark on Vimeo. \nAdebunmi Gbadebo  \nVisions in the Blackness\, 2024 \nFeaturing Adebunmi Gbadebo and Benny Haynes\, Director: Yvonne Michelle Shirley\, Cinematography: Vanessa Blake\, Sébastien Denis\, Yvonne Michelle Shirley\, Producer: Alliyah Allen\, Production Coordinator: Brooke Finister\, Editor: Stefani Saintonge\, Colorist: Kya Lou  \nAbout Adebunmi Gbadebo\nAdebunmi Gbadebo (Ah-dae-bu-mee Bha-dae-bo) is a multimedia artist who uses culturally and historically imbued materials to investigate the complexities between land\, matter\, and memory on various sites of slavery. Centering on deeply resonant materials like indigo dye\, soil hand dug from plantations\, and human Black hair collected throughout the diaspora\, Gbadebo has formed a visual vocabulary entirely her own. The resulting works tend to carry the stories of ancestors\, families\, and individuals either long overlooked or too closely surveilled. Born in New Jersey and based between Newark and Philadelphia\, Gbadebo earned her BFA at the School of Visual Arts\, NY\, and a certification in Creative Place Keeping at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. \nAdebunmi’s work in ceramics was recently on exhibition in\, Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield\, South Carolina at the Metropolitan Museum of Art\, NY\, a show which predominantly exhibited the work of enslaved peoples\, a first in the Met’s history. The show will tour nationally. She is currently a 2022 Pew Fellow and a 2023 Maxwell and Hanrahan Fellow\, and Artist in Residence at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia. Gbadebo has been written about in notable publications\, including the New York Times\, Hyperallergic\, Hypebeast\, Brooklyn Rail\, Forbes\, and the American Craft Council magazine. Gbadebo has given talks at various educational and cultural institutions including at the Museum of the African Diaspora\, the Metropolitan Museum of Arts\, Barnard College\, and the Newark Museum of Art. \nGbadebo’s works are included in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art\, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture\, the Minneapolis Institute of Art\, the South Carolina State Museum\, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts\, the Newark Museum of Art\, amongst others. Gbadebo has presented in exhibitions across the  US and internationally at the Dhaka Art Summit\, Bangladesh\, and the 1-54 African Art fair\, London\, and will be exhibiting in the Biennale of Sydney (Australia) in 2024. \nShe served as the Community Engagement Apprentice to Architect Nina Cooke John for the building of the Harriet Tubman Monument built in Newark\, NJ\, to replace a statue of Christopher Columbus. Gbadebo is currently working with students and faculty at Clemson University to create a sculpture that honors the 667 enslaved and Black laborers who transformed Fort Hill Plantation into Clemson University and whose unmarked burials were recently identified on the campus grounds.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/at-the-bottom-of-the-atlantic-ocean-theres-a-railroad-made-of-human-bones/
CATEGORIES:Exhibition
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240220
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240720
DTSTAMP:20240220T201154Z
CREATED:20240220T195038Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240220T201154Z
UID:10000009-1708387200-1721433599@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Occupying Wall Street & Covid Journals
DESCRIPTION:Occupying Wall Street & Covid Journals\nAccra Shepp\nWeaved throughout the main floor of Express Newark is Accra Shepp’s “Occupying Wall Street\,” an installation that features nineteen black-and-white portraits from his documenting of New York City’s 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement. Using a large-format view camera\, this was Shepp’s first foray into documentary photography. Here\, he captures a range of individual and collective portraits\, showcasing the movement’s diversity\, intimacy\, and impact. His 4×5 film exposure slows the photo-making process\, informing his audience of the smaller\, detailed moments that work to create and sustain a movement.  \nThe projected thirty-four black-and-white images are from Shepp’s “Covid Journals” series. The series documented the early stages of the pandemic in New York City\, and Shepp redeployed his medium-format camera to photograph the Black Lives Matter activism that resurged during the pandemic. Demanding justice for Breonna Taylor\, George Floyd\, Ahmaud Arbery\, and others lost to police brutality\, Shepp’s large-scale portraits present people wearing or bearing an array of signs\, gestures\, and symbols that remind viewers of the everyday dignity and kaleidoscopic diversity that constitutes Black Lives Matter. \nOn the archival wall\, Shepp interweaves protest portraits of the Black Lives Matter uprisings with pivotal images from the Newark Rebellion of 1967 to bridge the ongoing struggle for racial justice through place and time on a large vinyl display. In addition to that activation\, Shepp made a short film that opens with Hettie Jones—the poet\, writer\, and Jones’s first wife—in conversation with Shepp during the International Center for Photography’s 2017 public program “Radical Conversation: Making America Great.” Emphasizing the art of “starting small\,” Jones considers where movements begin and inspires Shepp to film himself protesting in front of the United States Federal Courthouse with the recording “We Are the Blues” as a sonic backdrop. Composed by Archie Shepp\, the avant-garde jazz saxophonist and Accra Shepp’s father\, the song features poetry by Amiri Baraka\, making this a rare collaboration between these lifelong friends. Here\, Shepp encourages visitors to take a postcard and use “We Are the Blues” as inspiration for their own protest and performance art. \n  \nAbout Accra Shepp\nAccra Shepp is an artist and writer\, based in New York and teaches at the School of Visual Arts. His images have been exhibited worldwide and are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art\, the Victoria and Albert Museum\, and other institutions. His writing has appeared in The New York Times and the New York Review of Books as well as his artist’s book Atlas (in the collection of the New York Public Library and the Whitney Museum Library)\, and Windbook\, an artist-book installation at the National Library of Luxembourg. His book\, Radical Justice: Lifting Every Voice was published in 2022 by Convoke. Most recently he is the recipient of the Cullman Scholars Fellowship from the New York Public Library and additionally was a senior Fulbright Fellowship to Indonesia. He has also participated in residencies at MacDowell\, Civitella\, and Light Work. In addition to his project\, “The Islands of New York” he is working on a show titled\, “The Monhegan Wildlands” with the Bowdoin College Art Museum and is completing work on his second book\, The Covid Journals.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/occupying-wall-street-covid-journals/
CATEGORIES:Exhibition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://expressnewark.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/accra.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240220
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240720
DTSTAMP:20240220T195457Z
CREATED:20240220T050445Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240220T195457Z
UID:10000008-1708387200-1721433599@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Who We Be
DESCRIPTION:Who We Be\nAdama Delphine Fawundu\nDelphine Fawundu revisits her experimental video “Who We Be\,” which follows performer James “Biggie Flighter” Benjamin Lewis\, through Freetown\, Sierra Leone\, in West Africa. The film becomes a sonic collage blending verses\, instrumentals\, and speeches exploring the African Diaspora’s linguistic diversity. Here\, Fawundu also debuts the wallpaper “Who We Be II\,” which incorporates her kpoto patchwork technique that gathers images to create new patterns and is inspired by the Mende and Krío peoples of Sierra Leone. In “Who We Be II\,” Fawundu uses an image of a large crowd she photographed  at a hip-hop concert on a beach in Ghana and repeats it\, emphasizing points of connectivity and collectivity throughout the Black world. \n  \nAbout Adama Delphine Fawundu\nAdama Delphine Fawundu is a photographer and interdisciplinary artist born in Brooklyn\, NY the ancestral space of the Lenni-Lanape. She is a descendant of the Mende\, Krim\, and Bubi peoples. Her distinct visual language centers around themes of indigenization\, and ancestral memory. Fawundu co-published the critically acclaimed book MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora. \nFawundu’s video portrait “The Undoing” opened at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in 2022 participating in a three-year touring exhibition The Outwit 2022: American Portraiture Today. Fawundu was commissioned by the Park Avenue Armory to participate in the 100 Years | 100 Women Project / The Women’s Suffrage NYC Centennial Consortium (2019–2021). Her public artwork includes a fifty-foot video mural Wata Bodis commissioned by Audible and a seventy-foot mural Courage produced through a collaboration with Newark Bold Women’s Leadership Network and Project for Empty Space. Her solo exhibitions include the Newark Museum of Art\, The Princeton University Museum’s Art@Bainbridge\, Hesse Flatow Gallery\, The Penumbra Foundation\, and The African American Museum in Philadelphia. She has participated in group exhibitions at Fotografiska\, Savvy Contemporary (Berlin)\, The Brooklyn Museum of Art\, Rice University Moody Center for Arts\, The Goodman Gallery (South Africa)\, The Bamako Encounters Biennial of African Photography\, Kunstverein Braunschweig\, California African American Museum\, The Gropius Bau\, Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt\, amongst others. \nHer awards include the 2023 Catchlight Fellowship\, the Anonymous Was A Woman Award\, the New York Foundation for The Arts Photography Fellowship\, and the Rema Hort Mann Artist Grant\, amongst others. She has participated in artist-in-residencies at the Yaddo\, Center for Book Arts\, Project for Empty Space\, The Brandywine Workshop\, The LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies at Columbia University\, and the African Artist Foundation in Lagos\, Nigeria. Her works are in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art; Princeton University Museum; Bryn Mawr College; The Petrucci Family Foundation of African American Art\, Asbury\, NJ; The Brooklyn Historical Society; Norton Museum of Art\, Palm Beach; The David C. Driskell Art Collection\, College Park\, MD; and a number of private collections. She is an Assistant Professor of Visual Arts at Columbia University.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/who-we-be/
CATEGORIES:Exhibition
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240220
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240720
DTSTAMP:20240310T000613Z
CREATED:20240220T010209Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240310T000613Z
UID:10000007-1708387200-1721433599@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:The Holdout II
DESCRIPTION:The Holdout II\nDerrick Adams\nWith “The Holdout II\,” Adams revisits a social sculpture that he initially debuted at Alijira: A Center for Contemporary Art in Newark in 2015. Now\, using a house-like structure and the format of a pirate radio station\, “The Holdout II” is hosted by Sister From Another Planet (Andrea Rose Clarke\, SFAP) and welcomes creatives and cultural practitioners to engage in conversation about gentrification\, economic development\, and land ownership\, set to the curated sounds of SFAP. \n“Holdout” is a real estate term for an owner of property in a row of acquired buildings who refuses to sell. Adams’s sculpture poetically references individuals within communities united as a wall of resistance and support. The installation and performative work acknowledges what is priceless and important to preserve in one’s own culture. It highlights a value system that appreciates these ideals. \nThe sculpture and custom furniture was designed and created by L. Dawn Designs\, Jahmir Duran Abreu\, Rich Dubois and Ziello Frames. \nListen now to The Holdout II live\, hosted by Sister From Another Planet! \n \n  \nAbout Derrick Adams\nDerrick Adams (b. 1970\, Baltimore\, MD) is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Brooklyn\, New York. He received his BFA from Pratt University\, New York\, in 1996 and graduated with an MFA from Columbia University\, New York\, in 2003. Adams has held numerous teaching positions and is currently a tenured assistant professor in the School of Visual\, Media and Performing Arts at CUNY Brooklyn College. He also holds an honorary doctorate from Maryland Institute College of Art. Adams celebrates and expands the dialogue around contemporary Black life and culture through scenes of normalcy and perseverance. He has developed an iconography of joy\, leisure\, and the pursuit of happiness within a practice that encompasses paintings\, sculptures\, collages\, performances\, videos\, and public projects. Adams synthesizes representational imagery with planar Cubist geometry to produce multifaceted figures and faces that address the richness of the Black experience. \nIn 2022\, Adams established Charm City Cultural Cultivation\, an organization to support and encourage underserved communities in the city of Baltimore through events conducted by three entities: The Last Resort Artist Retreat\, a residency program that subscribes to the concept of leisure as therapy for the Black creative; The Black Baltimore Digital Database\, a collaborative counter-institutional space for collecting\, storing\, and safekeeping the data of local archival initiatives; and Zora’s Den\, an online community of Black women writers started in January 2017\, which has since expanded into in-person writing workshops\, a writers’ circle\, and a monthly reading series that strive to promote instruction\, support\, and social engagement. \nAdams has been the subject of solo exhibitions at institutions such as The Cleveland Museum of Art\, Cleveland (2022); The Momentary\, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art\, Bentonville (2021); Hudson River Museum\, Yonkers (2020); and the Museum of Arts and Design\, New York (2018). The artist has mounted public installations commissioned through Art at Amtrak at NYC Penn Station\, New York (2023); MTA Arts & Design at the Nostrand Avenue LIRR Station\, Brooklyn (2020–ongoing); and RxART at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem (2019–ongoing). His work has been featured in notable group exhibitions including The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century\, Baltimore Museum of Art\, Baltimore (2023); Packaged Black: Derrick Adams & Barbara Earl Thomas\, Henry Art Gallery\, Seattle (2022); Textures: The History and Art of Black Hair\, Kent State University Museum (2021–2022); and Performa\, New York (2015\, 2013\, 2005). His art resides in the collections of The Brooklyn Museum\, The Metropolitan Museum of Art\, New York; The Studio Museum in Harlem; the Whitney Museum of American Art\, New York; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts\, Richmond; and the Birmingham Museum of Art\, among many others. \nAbout Sister from Another Planet\nAndrea Rose Clarke began building her music library in the 5th grade. Her Guyanese father\, an audiophile and computer programmer\, encouraged her to set up his then state-of-the-art Fisher Tune-o-Matic 500TX stereo system\, which later was conducive in her feeling at ease in settings like a master control room or DJ booth. \nHer journey continued through classical violin study and art school\, which immersed her in the vibrant culture of downtown Manhattan during the 1970s and 80s. A regular in celebrated clubs like Danceteria\, Area and Mudd Club\, and at the Soul Boys and 12 Tribes gatherings in Brooklyn\, her musical horizons expanded across many genres including rare soul\, 70s/80s reggae and golden age hip hop\, African\, new wave\, and rock. \nBy creating Sister From Another Planet (SFAP)\, Andrea found a platform to share her music discoveries. DJing at venues like the World\, MK’s\, Pyramid\, Wetlands\, Madam Rosa’s and Mars\, she later extended her listenership through a 14-year stint producing and hosting a radio show for WBAI 99.5 FM that connected with a diverse audience spanning age\, race and gender. \nCollaborations with icons like Chuck D resulted in the production a second show for WBAI\, “...ANDYOUDONTSTOP!“\, that focused on social commentary and the impact of independent and golden-age hip hop on global culture. \nNotable interviews include such luminaries as Octavia Butler\, Avery Brooks\, Nikki Giovanni\, Gil Scott Heron\, Kanye West\, Nona Hendrix\, and Sananda Maitreya/Terrence Trent D’Arby. \n 
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/the-holdout/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Exhibition
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240220
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240720
DTSTAMP:20240220T203358Z
CREATED:20240220T201417Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240220T203358Z
UID:10000011-1708387200-1721433599@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Newark Master Plan & Street Views
DESCRIPTION:Newark Master Plan & Street Views\nCesar Melgar\nBorn in Newark\, Cesar Melgar presents twenty-five digital c-prints from his series “Newark Master Plan.” With the black-and-white photographs taken between 2018 and 2022\, Melgar prompts viewers to consider the frequency of Notice of Public Hearing Banners appearing on homes\, commercial spaces\, and landmarks throughout the city. Moving beyond the hyper-individuality associated with the nineteenth-century figure of the flâneur\, Melgar welcomes visitors to walk the streets of Newark with him\, especially by including glimpses of his shadow within these landscape portraits. He describes his practice as “wandering” and by doing so\, offers a deeply romantic vision of Newark as a place steeped in history\, nostalgia\, community\, and contemporaneity. The installation also features a banner Melgar found and repurposed with lost images of a family album and graffiti and asks viewers to reimagine the narratives that should be heard and noticed. \nMelgar’s journey continues in the screening room with fifty-five projected images from his “Street Views” series from 2018 to 2023. The film is separated into two parts—the first\, “Seduced by the Suburbs\,” in which Melgar showcases iconic sites and moments in Newark\, like the Adams Theater or Newark Penn Station\, to show how the allure of renewed development leaves the city broken down and in decay. The second\, “Regeneration for the next generation!” moves the narrative forward\, leaving viewers to consider what remains or is left behind at the cost of urban renewal and gentrification. \nAbout Cesar Melgar\nCesar Melgar was born in Newark\, NJ and raised in the Ironbound section\, a working class neighborhood. This upbringing as a child of first generation immigrants from Colombia and Peru influences his eye as he turns his lens onto his community that has faced environmental injustice\, disinvestment\, and now the force of gentrification. His photos capture the poetic nuances of daily life in a city that is often misunderstood by New Jersey’s suburbs and beyond\, and especially the media. In 2015\, Cesar Melgar was introduced to the world via an interview by the Design Observer\, a prestigious magazine devoted to a range of design topics such as urbanism and social innovation. Cesar has exhibited his work in most of the major galleries and institutions in Newark\, New Jersey. He is a contributing photographer for the International Society of Biourbanism based in Rome\, Italy. His photographs are showcased in his debut photo book\, Street Views\, designed by John Foster in 2018. As of 2019\, he completed his first residency in Artena\, Italy\, immersing himself in the community and making images of its people. In 2020\, he self published a zine containing photos he made of Newark during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic which was included in a New York Times article featuring Newark’s creative community. He was a Scholastic Awards National Art Juror in New York City which highlights the work of talented young photographers. Cesar has also been a guest speaker for multiple colleges. In June 2023\, he spent a month on a residency in France documenting the exodus and emptiness of the rural town of Bourbonne-Les-Bains. His work is in the collection of Rush Arts Philadelphia and Throckmorton Fine Art\,  New York City\, one of the foremost sources for important Latin American Contemporary and Vintage Photography.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/newark-master-plan-street-views/
CATEGORIES:Exhibition
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240220
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240720
DTSTAMP:20240220T201459Z
CREATED:20240109T235134Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240220T201459Z
UID:10000003-1708387200-1721433599@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Blues People
DESCRIPTION:“Blues People has always meant a great deal to me. It was a dramatic self-confirmation\, as a personal intellectual and artistic ‘presence\,’ but also as the expression of a set of ideas and measures that I have carried with me for many years. Most\, even until today.”  —Amiri Baraka \nInspired by the 60th anniversary of “Blues People: Negro Music in White America”\,—the acclaimed book by writer\, poet\, political activist and Newark native LeRoi Jones\, who later renamed himself Amiri Baraka—visual artists Derrick Adams\, Adama Delphine Fawundu\, Adebunmi Gbadebo\, Cesar Melgar\, and Accra Shepp have reimagined pivotal works of theirs to create five newly commissioned art installations at Express Newark that explore what it means to be a “Blues People” in the twenty-first century.  \nAccra Shepp’s “Occupying Wall Street” and “Covid Journals” feature black-and-white portraits of protesters during New York City’s Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011 and the global Black Lives Matter uprising of 2020. Installed on the main floor of the building and incorporating Baraka’s poetry and the music of Shepp’s father\, the avant-garde jazz musician Archie Shepp—a good friend of Baraka’s—Shepp’s work dissolves the boundaries between the individual and the collective\, reminding us that those who participated in the demonstrations played an essential role in the safeguarding of American democracy and achieving radical forms of justice. \nIn the Window Gallery\, multimedia artist Adebunmi Gbadebo features two new handmade\, site-specific paper textiles inspired by her work “At the Bottom of the Atlantic Ocean There is a Railroad Made of Human Bones.” Taking its title from a line in Baraka’s poem “Wise\, why’s\, y’s\,” her pieces are made from Black hair\, cotton\, and indigo dye and meditate on labor\, land\, and familial legacy at True Blue Plantation\, the rice and indigo plantation where her ancestors were enslaved in Fort Motte\, South Carolina.  \nAcross from these textiles\, in the Box Gallery\, photographer and visual artist Adama Delphine Fawundu revisits her experimental short film\, “Who We Be”\, which explicitly takes up Baraka’s emphasis on Black music by exploring hip-hop\, social language\, and activism in Freetown\, Sierra Leone\, in West Africa. Serving as a backdrop to the film\, “Who We Be II” is a wallpaper designed using Fawundu’s technique\, kpoto patchwok\, in which she blends photographic transfers of Black crowds throughout the African diaspora\, further expanding the musically immersive experience of her installation. In the Mende and Krío cultures of Sierra Leone\, the term kpoto loosely translates to “gathering.”  \nIn the Paul Robeson Gallery\, multidisciplinary artist Derrick Adams plays with the real estate term protesting gentrification\, by reimagining “The Holdout\,” a house-like social sculpture with a curated radio station that he initially exhibited at Alijira: A Center for Contemporary Art in Newark in 2015. Experimenting with the format of a pirate radio station and live guest DJ sets\, Adams highlights conversations with renowned artists and local activists about displacement\, economic development\, and land ownership. \nSurrounding Adams’s sculpture is street photographer Cesar Melgar’s “Newark Master Plan\,” a debut series of black-and-white images of Newark properties from 2019 to 2022 that bear “Notice of Public Hearing on Proposed Development” banners.  Exhibited alongside his photos from his 2018 “Street Views” series\, set in the Ironbound and Downtown Newark\, Melgar’s romantic images remind us of the vitality and vibrancy of Newark communities and the increasing threats posed by higher living costs\, corporate home purchases\, and the enduring wealth gap. \nThe “Sounds of Newark” installation displays five works from Express Newark’s Community Media Center residents Laïssa C. Alexia\, Kendra Brandon\, Gary Campbell\, Celli Pitt\, and Chris Simmons on the fourth floor. Considering silence as a marker of gentrification\, the installation presents a soundscape in which these five artists remember the value of their community as the city changes around them. Working with artist Jamilah Malika Abu-Bakare\, these CMC residents use sound as a sonic space of refusal and a creative way to rescue an archive. Taken together\, the installation asks: What sounds shall we save? \n“Blues People” is curated by Alliyah Allen\, Express Newark’s associate curator and program coordinator. Additional support is provided by executive director Salamishah Tillet; creative director Nick Kline; Anonda Bell\, director of the Paul Robeson Galleries; Brooke Finister\, program coordinator of New Arts Justice; and Anthony Alvarez\, assistant director of Shine Portrait Studio and coordinator of the Free School at Express Newark. \nRutgers University-Newark\, the Ford Foundation\, the Andy Warhol Foundation\, the HarbourView Equity Foundation\, the Devils Youth Foundation\, and Duggal Visual Solutions provide generous funding for this exhibition. Additional support is from New Arts Justice\, Shine Portrait Studio\, Paul Robeson Galleries\, and Harmony Lab.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/blues-people/
LOCATION:Express Newark\, 54 Halsey Street\, Newark\, NJ\, 07102
CATEGORIES:Exhibition
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20230912T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20230912T000000
DTSTAMP:20261014T191259Z
CREATED:20261014T191259Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261014T191259Z
UID:10000105-1694476800-1694476800@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Communities Joining Forces
DESCRIPTION:“Humanities Action Lab Hosts 2023 National Convening: “Communities Joining Forces” to Address Climate Crisis\n  \nThe Humanities Action Lab is calling upon organizers\, scholars\, and students from ten communities at the forefront of the climate crisis to unite for the 2023 National Convening\, themed “Communities Joining Forces.” \nThis event\, scheduled for October 26\, 2023\, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.\, will take place at Rutgers University in Newark\, New Jersey\, specifically at the Express Newark Building located at 54 Halsey Street. \n  \nParticipants hailing from diverse regions\, ranging from Merced\, California\, to Magaguez\, Puerto Rico\, will converge in Newark to exchange stories and strategies while establishing connections with their peers nationwide. The event aims to foster collaboration and the sharing of knowledge to collectively address the pressing climate crisis. \n  \nThe program for the day includes discussions on designing a trans-local campus\, where students\, scholars\, and organizers from across the country can learn from and support each other. Additionally\, participants will engage in the development of a collective public memory project that interconnects their stories\, fostering a sense of collective action and solidarity. \n  \nThis National Convening serves as a vital platform for those on the front lines of the climate crisis to collaborate\, learn from each other’s experiences\, and work together to create a more sustainable future. It promises to be a dynamic and insightful gathering of passionate individuals committed to addressing the challenges of climate change.” \nThis event is co-sponsored by  Institute for Global Racial Justice
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/communities-joining-forces/
CATEGORIES:Humanities Action Lab
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20230120T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20230120T000000
DTSTAMP:20261014T191258Z
CREATED:20261014T191258Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261014T191258Z
UID:10000104-1674172800-1674172800@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:February 2nd: Opening Reception - Willie Cole and Farrah Rahaman
DESCRIPTION:Inspired by scholar Kevin Quashie’s recent book\, Black Aliveness\, or a Poetics of Being\, Express Newark’s year-long programming of art installations\, immersive films\, public lectures\, and community classes\, reflects how the concept of Aliveness can be an innovative and timely exploration of contemporary art\, racial freedom\, and environmental justice. \nOn Thursday\, February 2nd\, as part of its Aliveness series\, Express Newark will host the opening reception for Willie Cole’s art interventions\, Spirit Catcher and Lumen-less Lantern\, two large-scale\, chandelier-like sculptures that address Newark’s water crisis and our planet’s plastic problem\, and Things We Do in the Dark: Cinematic Experiments in Kinship\, a film exhibition curated by cultural worker Farrah Rahaman that showcases over twenty video-based works by Black and Indigenous artists whose works explore the critical themes of racial solidarity\, Black radical protest\, and communal healing. \nThese featured activations are part of Willie Cole’s Artist Residency\, and Farrah Rahaman’s Curatorial Residency\, for 2022-2023. \nThe opening reception will be held from 6-8 PM at Express Newark\, located at 54 Halsey Street\, 2nd Floor\, Newark\, NJ 07102.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/february-2nd-opening-reception-willie-cole-and-farrah-rahaman/
CATEGORIES:Express Newark
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20220707T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20220707T000000
DTSTAMP:20261014T191245Z
CREATED:20261014T191245Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261014T191245Z
UID:10000103-1657152000-1657152000@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Black Girl Takeover - a one day event
DESCRIPTION:Join us this Sunday\, July 10th\, for THE BLACK GIRL TAKEOVER\, a day-long festival full of intimate conversations & immersive workshops inspired by the landmark exhibition\, Picturing Black Girlhood: Moments of possibility co-curated by @sherphotographs & @zoraida365  The event is free and open to the public and all are welcome. \nBlack Girl Takeover\nSunday\, July 10th 9am – 5pm \nREGISTER AT EVENTBRITE
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/black-girl-takeover-a-one-day-event/
CATEGORIES:Express Newark
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20220302T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20220302T000000
DTSTAMP:20261014T191230Z
CREATED:20261014T191230Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261014T191230Z
UID:10000098-1646179200-1646179200@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Dialogue in a Time of Fracture – A Rutgers University-Newark 75th Anniversary Event
DESCRIPTION:2021-2022 marks the 75th Anniversary of Rutgers University-Newark’s designation as a public institution of higher education. In this 75th anniversary\, as our nation reckons with deep racial\, political\, and ideological fracture\, our University is once again called upon\, as a public\, anchor institution\, to provide a space for critical conversation that can lead toward understanding\, knowledge production\, mobilization\, and healing. \nDialogue in a Time of Fracture is a series of events at Rutgers University-Newark to engage our entire campus community\, aimed at fostering conversation in this time of division. Dialogue events include a two-day symposium\, workshops\, and rundialogue.rutgers.edu – a digital platform that will help document and extend these conversations. \nAll events are free and open to the community. Registration is required.\nProof of vaccination is required.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/dialogue-in-a-time-of-fracture-a-rutgers-university-newark-75th-anniversary-event/
CATEGORIES:Express Newark
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20220214T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20220214T000000
DTSTAMP:20261014T191245Z
CREATED:20261014T191245Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261014T191245Z
UID:10000102-1644796800-1644796800@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Black Portraiture[s] VII: Play and Performance
DESCRIPTION:Rutgers University–Newark and The Newark Museum of Art will host the seventh annual Black Portraiture[s] Conference from Thursday\, February 17 to Saturday\, February 19\, 2022. Our theme for the conference is Play and Performance\, which explores the role of “play” in past and contemporary African diasporic art and performance. \n\nThursday\, Feb 17 & Friday\, Feb 18: Black Portaiture[s] VII: Play and Performance Conference. Black Portraiture[s] is an academic conference committed to the study of African diasporic art and culture. Hosting over 300 of our foremost scholars and artists at Rutgers University – Newark\, visit www.blackportraitures.info/bp7 to see the full conference schedule.\n\n\nThursday\, Feb 17: Picturing Black Girlhood: Moments of Possibility at Express Newark\, an international exhibition that features over 180 works by over 72 Black women\, girls\, and genderqueer artists – ranging in age from 8 to 94 – who work in the mediums of photography and film and are exploring the concept of Black girlhood. Among the 30 artists are Carrie Mae Weems\, Latoya Ruby Frazier\, Lorraine O’Grady\, Lola Flash\, Sophia Nahli Allison\, Deborah Roberts\, and Tawny Chatmon.\n\n\nFriday\, Feb 18: Scheherazade Tillet: Black Girl Play at the Project for Empty Space gallery in Newark. A culmination of Tillet’s artist in residency at Shine Portrait Studio and New Arts Justice at Express Newark\, this exhibition is a common exploration of the ways in which coming of age\, community traditions\, and radical play\, converge at various points in the lives of Black girls. Tillet’s photographs remind us that joy and play are not only prevalent and normal but things to be preserved and validated. The reception will be held from 5 – 7 pm at Project for Empty Space. Schedule a Visit.\n\n\nSaturday\, Feb 19: 42nd Annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture will be hosted by the Clement Price Institute of Ethnicity\, Culture\, and the Modern Experience and The Newark Museum of Art. Our keynote artists all foreground the themes of play\, utopia\, and performances in their work\, and are photographer Tyler Mitchell with Professor Deborah Willis; visual artist Bisa Butler and Linda Harrison\, the Director and the CEO of the Newark Museum of Art\, and Grammy-award nominated jazz violinist Regina Carter in dialogue with renowned scholar Professor Farah Jasmine Griffin\, playwright Dominique Morriseau in conversation with Kamilah Forbes\, the Executive Producer of Apollo Theater.\n\n  \nREGISTER NOW –  EVENTBRITE.
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/black-portraitures-vii-play-and-performance/
CATEGORIES:Express Newark
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20220131T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20220131T000000
DTSTAMP:20261014T191244Z
CREATED:20261014T191244Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261014T191244Z
UID:10000100-1643587200-1643587200@expressnewark.org
SUMMARY:Black Portraiture[s]: Play and Performance\, the seventh annual Black Portraiture[s] Conference
DESCRIPTION:Express Newark at Rutgers University-Newark is hosting Black Portraiture[s]: Play and Performance\, the seventh annual Black Portraiture[s] Conference from Thursday\, February 17 to Saturday\, February 19\, 2022. The three-day conference explores the theme of play and performance in past and contemporary African diasporic art and performance and will conclude with a series of groundbreaking keynote conversations for the 42nd Annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture at the Newark Museum of Art. \n\n\nREGISTER TO ATTEND HERE. \n________ \n\nExhibitions\nOpening the conference on February 17 is Picturing Black Girlhood: Moments of Possibility\, an exhibition that focuses on the concept of Black girlhood in over 150 works by 70 Black women\, girls\, and genderqueer photographers and filmmakers who range in age from 8 to 94 years old. Bringing pioneering Black photographers such as Carrie Mae Weems\, Doris Derby\, Lorraine O’Grady\, Deborah Roberts\, LaToya Ruby Frazier\, Lola Flash\, Tawny Chatmon\, Sophia Nahli Allison\, and others in conversation with over 30 Black girl photographers\, Picturing Black Girlhood is curated by Scheherazade Tillet and Zoraida Lopez and is supported by the Express Newark curatorial team of Alliyah Allen and Anonda Bell. \nOn February 18\, the Project for Empty Space gallery will host a reception for Scheherazade Tillet: Black Girl Play\, an exhibition exploring the convergence of coming-of-age celebrations\, community traditions\, and radical play\, at various points in the lives of Black girls. An important element of the exhibition is the radically beautiful resistance it presents against a historic American stereotype that robs Black girls of their childhood. Tillet’s photographs are reminders that joy and play are not only prevalent and normal but things to be preserved and validated. Black Girl Play is curated by Jasmine Wahi and Rebecca Jampol. \nSCHEDULE A VISIT \n_______\n42nd Annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series\nOn the final day\, the 42nd Annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture will be held at the Newark Museum of Art\, featuring keynote artists who all foreground the themes of play\, utopia\, and performances in their work. Conversations will take place from 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. and will include photographer Tyler Mitchell with Dr. Deborah Willis; visual artist Bisa Butler and Linda Harrison\, the Director and the CEO of the Newark Museum of Art\, and Grammy-award nominated jazz violinist Regina Carter in dialogue with renowned scholar Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin\, and playwright Dominique Morisseau in conversation with Kamilah Forbes\, the Executive Producer of Apollo Theater. \n  \n\nREGISTER NOW\n\n_________\n\n 
URL:https://expressnewark.org/event/black-portraitures-play-and-performance-the-seventh-annual-black-portraitures-conference/
CATEGORIES:Express Newark
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