Powers of the Unseen kicks off Express Newark’s year-long exhibition program, Ritual. Ritual extends the conversation initiated by the Powers of the Unseen by featuring works by artists, curators, students, and community members, who have immersed themselves in nonsecular expressions of spirituality and Islamic traditions across the Muslim world.
These works begin in 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.
Photographer Nzingah Oyo is 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.
“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 reflections, moving sounds, and tangible objects, the space offers an invitation from the material world for greater comprehension and interpretation of the immaterial.
Across 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.
Express 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.
Throughout the evening, attendees will have the opportunity to meet and connect with the various studios at Express Newark via an open studios format. Informative and interactive, the open studios will allow participants to connect with diverse art-making processes firsthand, ask questions, and engage with faculty and staff. Select studios will provide opportunities for attendees to experiment with different techniques, encouraging exploration and self-expression.
Designed as a reflective space that will transform Dahlia Elsayed and Andrew Demirjian’s box gallery installation Subtle Centers in to a meditation room that will offer the participants a chance to disconnect and reconnect, coming together every 30min through the evening for 10 minute guided meditation sessions. These sessions will focus on mindfulness and empowerment, encouraging participants to embrace inner calm, communal awareness, and personal strength.
Led by Victoria Fontana, MSc, MA, PCC Mindfulness & Compassion Teacher & Consultant, Executive & Leadership Coach, PCC
A dedicated space for children and families will provide an open, welcoming environment for kids to engage in age-appropriate art-making activities. These sessions will focus on creating empowering visual symbols and objects that reflect personal and cultural rituals. Guided by local teaching artists, this station encourages creativity, self-confidence, and fun through artistic exploration.