F 0 R E W 0 R D

The major and significant cities of the world have unique identities. They offer rich and varied aesthetic gifts to citizens and visitors alike. They are centers of commerce, history, and intellectual achievement. The elements of their physical environment - architecture, art, green lands and open spaces, are like fingerprints.

This concept of a city's image implies an overall unified coherent pattern, not an isolated district or pocket of activity separated from its neighborhoods. The image of a city in that which dominates the daily life of its citizenry, expressed in the elements which make up Its visual landscape. Thus Paris is known for its sidewalk cafes, Tokyo for its teahouses, Florence for its Piazzas.

In Newark, individual projects are being developed which attempt to renew our urban environment. The rationale behind the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) assumes that a world-class facility with a diverse program of quality events will begin to evolve an Identity for Newark with its own set of "fingerprints."

While NJPAC promises to be an excellent facility, should not the process of creating a compelling and unifying image of Newark include a broader, coherent planning initiative? Shouldn't such a "Initiative work to ensure support for other existing and anchor organizations and smaller groups that already promote and participate in the City's unique identity and particular texture? And wouldn't this citywide planning process bring to the table for discussion and focus attention on issues of building beyond functional competence?

The Newark Hidden City Project is the first installment of rethinking the city,a series of exhibitions and related panel discussions on the City of Newark today. It is part of Aljiras initiative to connect art with community issues. It explores Ideas about the discovery of Newark's contemporary identity in a local and global context, how that identity is shaped by us, and how ultimately it defines who we are.

Aljira would like to thank all those who have made this project and its related events possible. We feel particularly fortunate to be able to engage the young bright minds of Tom Bish and Hal Laessig in the ground-breaking installation of this series. We hope you find their work instructive and insightful.

Victor L.Davson, Executive Director
Aljira, A Center for Contemporary Art