HYCIDE Founder Akintola Hanif to Open New Art Space in Newark

HYCIDE magazine founder Akintola Hanif celebrates the June 27 opening of HYCIDE XPANSE, a Newark arts axis that will serve as a production hub and offer free classes in photography, photojournalism, meditation and yoga.

The event, held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 33 Halsey Street, will feature Black & White Redux, an exhibition of images from HYCIDE’s Black & White Book, which extols the power of Black culture and explores race as a sociopolitical construct. The latest edition of the book will be on sale at the event.

Hanf, HYCIDE’s editor-in-chief, envisions XPANSE as a sanctuary for intentional creative exchange, reflection and collaboration.

“It marks a spiritual and artistic expansion for me and for HYCIDE in every way,’’ said Hanif, an acclaimed photographer and curator who launched HYCIDE, an art and photography magazine, in 2011.

HYCIDE is in the special collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the International Center of Photography, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Library of Congress, and the Newark Public Library.

XPANSE will offer arts programming and generate content for HYCIDE, along with additional projects that align with HYCIDE’s mission of bearing witness to the beauty and agency of people whose stories are rarely told with care.

“HYCIDE will be producing films, books and programming in collaboration with the Brooklyn Combine and other local organizations and artists,’’ said Hanif.

The Brooklyn Combine, a New York City non-profit and longstanding HYCIDE partner, advances the well-being of oppressed communities, with a special focus on the Pan-African diaspora. It offers programs on education, leadership, and social support for youth and young adults.

XPANSE will also serve as a studio space for Hanif, who is known for a style of documentary portraiture that blends the raw energy of street photography with elegantly posed compositions. He describes his work as a collaborative process with his subjects, who are deeply engaged with him during the process of creating the images.

After suffering a life-altering stroke in 2017, Hanif turned inward—both personally and artistically. He began experimenting with studio work and abstraction, long exposures, and color. That period of isolation shifted not only his aesthetic, but his ethos, which now places more emphasis on self-reflection and mindfulness.

XPANSE is a reflection of this shift – a curated, conscious environment, built in the wake of personal rebirth.

The Black & White Book is also a result of Hanif’s evolution. Released after a six-year pause in HYCIDE’s publication, it comprises work by more than 60 artists and 40 writers–including legendary photographer Jamel Shabazz, HYCIDE’s editor-at-large. It explores what photography can reveal about history, storytelling, oppression, freedom, and joy. The book was guest-edited by scholar and ethnographer Dr. Yaba Blay.

In addition to Hanif’s photos, the XPANSE exhibition showcases images by photographers whose images are included in the Black & White Book: Erik James Montgomery, Jean Messeroux, Le Pistolera, Kenibashu Saikaptah, and Amandla Baraka.

The opening event will include light refreshments and entertainment.