Rutgers University–Newark Collaborates with HYCIDE magazine on Event and Exhibit at Newark Museum September 6

NEWARK – Rutgers University–Newark and city-based HYCIDE magazine are presenting a special one-night launch and exhibition of the magazine’s Newark Issue at the Newark Museum Sept 6 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The event will include an installation of photographs made around the city of Newark, including a selection of critically acclaimed work by artist Manuel Acevedo, plus a photo booth featuring an entrance door from the former Baxter Terrace Housing project. DJ Asen James will play soul, hip hop, blues, afro-beat, jazz and alternative music, and refreshments will be served.

This special event is supported by the Rutgers-Newark Chancellor’s Office, along with the Dean’s Office of the Newark College of Arts and Sciences (NCAS). It will help close out the summer-long “New Jersey Arts Annual in Fine Art, Ready or Not” show, which runs through Sept. 7.

HYCIDE magazine, based in Newark, is a unique hybrid of photojournalism and art that provides an intimate glimpse into the lives of marginalized people around the world. It showcases the work of cutting-edge, emerging and established artists, both local and international.

The Newark Issue, featuring documentary photography, essays and reporting by residents and Rutgers-Newark journalism students, presents a multi-faceted view of the city while taking head-on historical and present-day realities of segregation, racism and poverty.

Rutgers University–Newark Chancellor Nancy Cantor points to this as a vivid illustration of how a diverse community of experts can collaborate to examine critical local issues that reflect global challenges. “With the attention of the nation and the world riveted to recent events from Staten Island to Ferguson, Missouri to the Middle East, among many other hotspots of intergroup conflict, one could hardly imagine more pressing issues to take on. It should be no surprise that it is our artists and scholars at the vanguard of the search for understanding and a way forward. It is precisely at the intersection of such diverse perspectives—from faculty, students, community members, artists, and professionals such as our friends from The Newark Museum—that we find our best hope to heal.”

HYCIDE magazine, which was started in 2011, is the vision of photographer and filmmaker Akintola Hanif. The Newark Issue is a collaboration between Hanif, Rutgers-Newark Photography Professor Nick Kline, and their students at Rutgers-Newark. Mark Krasovic, associate director of Rutgers’ Institute on Ethnicity, Culture and the Modern Experience, wrote the issue’s introduction.

HYCIDE has established itself as an important voice in the media-and-arts landscape. The entire collection of HYCIDE was recently acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art library for its permanent collection. The magazine also has won many other accolades for its unflinching look at social problems affecting urban America.

For additional information on the event, including directions to The Newark Museum, please visit www.newarkmuseum.org.