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City Without Walls presents The 5 Wards, a photography exhibition curated by Akintola Hanif featuring works by Manuel Acevedo, Cesar Melgar, Tamara Fleming, Colleen Gutwein, Fabian Palencia, Nema Etebar, Stefan Brown and Rhys Valmonte, opening Friday, October 21, 2016, 6-9pm with a reception to be held during the Newark Arts Open Doors City Wide Festival.
Presented in conjunction with HYCIDE magazine, the exhibition will also launch The 5 Wards online series, which is part of Newark Celebration 350. The series is a public engagement project that explores the diverse people and landscapes of Newark’s five wards highlighting perceptions, realities and struggles faced by Newark residents, artists and business owners. Through photography and video, the artists reveal nuanced reflections of change, culture and community, providing a deeper analysis of Newark as it commemorates its 350th anniversary.
“The 5 Wards provides a wake-up call to our imagination and a review of our perceptions. The curator and the artists are asking us: what do you see, what more do we need to see?”, says City Without Walls Executive Director, fayemi shakur. “There is certainly more to Newark than the stereotypes we often hear about this city that I love. Being here at City Without Walls feels like a homecoming for me and I’m honored to present this work.”
Ms. Shakur was recently appointed as the new Executive Director of City Without Walls marking a seminal moment in the organization’s history.
“At a time when the dominant narratives of Newark focus on either crime or redevelopment, The 5 Wardspresents a more balanced view of the people and places that are often left out of these conversations,” says curator and HYCIDE magazine Editor-In-Chief, Akintola Hanif.
The online series, which will have its debut at the opening reception, features interviews with residents and business owners discussing their relationship to their communities and the city-at-large. Stories about the city’s street culture, art, and history, including pieces on vanished Newarkers, such as the Leni Lenape tribe, and the residents of Newark’s once-thriving Chinatown are also a part of the series. Gentrification, violence and the city’s burgeoning alternative media will also be explored. The stories will be featured online at www.thefivewards.com beginning October 21.
The 5 Wards opening reception will feature performances by Khalil Jibran and Jasmine Mans with music by DJ Ezrakh.
On Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 6:30pm the exhibition will include a screening of Revolution ’67, a film directed by Marylou Tibaldo-Bongiorno (2007). Focusing on the six-day Newark, N.J. rebellion on July 12, 1967, the film reveals how the disturbance began as spontaneous revolts against poverty and police brutality and ended as fateful milestones in America’s struggles over race and economic justice.
The 5 Wards exhibition will be on view through December 17, 2016. Limited edition posters signed by Akintola Hanif will be available to purchase.
