Aude Tournaye and Wendell Marsh Co-Curate Groundbreaking Exhibit at Express Newark

Aude Tournaye, a current MESAAS PhD student, and Wendell Marsh, a MESAAS PhD and Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University-Newark, are part of the curatorial team behind the highly anticipated exhibit Powers of the Unseen at Express Newark. This exhibit is part of Express Newark’s 2025 annual theme, Ritual, which highlights the relationship between Islamic spiritual practices and contemporary art.

Hosted in the Paul Robeson Gallery, Powers of the Unseen explores the Muslim concept of the Unseen (al-Ghayb)—that which is hidden from the visible world and beyond human perception. The exhibit features photography by thirteen international artists, including Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, Chester Higgins, Gordon Parks, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and Malick Welli. These works delve into the boundaries between the visible and invisible, spirituality and photography, and the limits of perception.

By including European, American, and African artists, the exhibit challenges traditional geographies of the "Muslim World" and resists singular labels, advocating for inclusive representations of identity and belief. Co-curated by Sandrine Colard, Wendell Marsh, Alex Dika Seggerman, and Aude Tournaye, Powers of the Unseen invites audiences to reconsider visibility and its limits.

The exhibition opens on February 25 will be on view until July 31, 2025. For more information, visit this link.