5 Days in July: A Video Installation is a project by filmmaker Chuck Schultz and visual artist Esther Podemski that examines the 1967 Newark riots through newsreel footage and archival personal accounts from independent films.

E8 includes work by a dynamic group of 13 women and 8 men who, with varying experiences and artistic practices, were chosen to engage in Aljira Emerge 8, a professional development program for artists.

Artists participating in this exhibition are as follows:

Nicole Awai, Suzanne Broughel, Priyanka Dasgupta, Andrew Demirjian, Aissa Deebi, Jerry Gant, iliana emilia garcia, Jeff Grant, Patrick Grenier, Jayson Keeling, Holly Lynton, Alisoun Meehan, Natsu, Julie Peppito, Carol Pereira, Jenny Polak, Elisabeth Smolarz, Lisa C. Soto, Jaret Vadera, Mary A. Valverde, Mike Womack.

In conjunction with The Newark Museum’s exhibition, Mexicana: Discovering Mexican Popular Arts, 1919-1950, acclaimed contemporary artist Franco Mondini-Ruiz has created an installation reflecting on a time when Americans both admired and distorted Mexican culture. In a humorous twist, Mondini-Ruiz commissioned piñata makers from his hometown of San Antonio, Texas, to copy masterpieces of modern and contemporary art. Working through an intermediary, Mondini-Ruiz provided anonymous piñata makers with minimal direction such as a simple pencil sketch, dimensions and/or a photograph. A Mexican Museum of Modern Art is the result of this experiment in cross-cultural translation, coupled with Mondini-Ruiz’s artistic and deliberate sense of display.

A 2004-05 recipient of The Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, Franco Mondini-Ruiz has exhibited widely at The Whitney Museum of American Art, El Museo del Barrio, The Walker Arts Center, and The Fowler Museum. A Mexican Museum of Modern Art is Mondini-Ruiz’s New Jersey premiere and is the result of a collaboration between The Newark Museum and Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art.

To find out more about Mexicana: Discovering Mexican Popular Arts, 1919-1950, visit The Newark Museum.

Curated by Culture Creators.

A dedicated group of young artists and teachers from Arts High and West Side High Schools visited museums, galleries and artists’ studios to survey a range of work and ideas in contemporary art. The Culture Creators’ ten-week studio program focused on producing work for the current installation. Through the mentorship of a project coordinator, contemporary curators, museum educators, and an exhibition designer, the Culture Creators’ curatorial team organized this exhibition.

Rose Oluronke Ojo, Coordinator and Instructor

This exhibition is in continued remembrance of the founder of this program, Eathon G. Hall, Jr.

This program is made possible, in part, by an ARTSTART project grant from the Newark Arts Council.

This program is made possible by generous support from JPMorgan Chase Foundation; The Horizon Foundation of New Jersey; PSE&G; and Turrell Fund.

Curated by Carl E. Hazlewood.

Reception and Gallery Talk:
Thursday, March 15, 5:30–8:30pm
Talk begins promptly at 6:30pm

For William Jones, a professor emeritus in the Academic Foundations Department of Rutgers University, collecting contemporary African art becomes an act of personal and cultural affirmation—concrete evidence retrieved from “…a counter-hegemonic journey…to construct frames of mind, internal spaces, psychological locations, of resistance to racism, places where the spirit can be repaired and redeemed.” This exhibition presents selected works from Professor Jones’s collection, acquired during his frequent travels through the US, Africa and other parts of the Afro-Diaspora.

Start your own collection: Don’t miss The Aljira Fine Art Auction 2007, Thursday, April 19. Ensure your invitation by sending a request to info@aljira.org.”

Artists participating in this exhibition are as follows:

Utaibi, Victor Davson, Frank Bowling, Francis King Msangi, Jimoh Burimoh, Folorunsho Owolabi, Emmanuel Taiwo Jegede, Asiru Olatunde, Jacob Afolabi, Bayo Ogundele, Kerry James Marshall, Carybé, Elimo Njau, Norman Lewis, Odili Donald Odita, Vincent Smith, Twin Seven-Seven, El Anatsui, Wosene Worke Kosrof, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Kivuthi Mbuno, Muriana Oyelami, Zacharia Mbutha, Kofi Setordji, Ablade Glover, José Cláudio,
Adebisi Fabunmi, Ancent Soi, Richard Hillman.