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Born in Gabon to a Malian Muslim father and a Gabonese mother, Aida has
always been intrigued by the Origin of the Creation.
After a peaceful childhood, nurtured by loving parents, she pursued high school
in France where the rigid structures and compulsions of formal education began
to stir in her the urgency to embrace her innermost inclinations which revolved
around some intense yet still undefined Arts.
In 1995, she moved to New York to study music and on that creative journey, she
embraced the practice of her native religion
Islam;
the sublimity of its inner motions inspired her to compose poetic works of
a spiritual nature which reflect the state of Zikr, remembrance of
The Beloved.
In 2000, she released her first collection of Sufi poetry Unmanifest
Poems which was followed in 2001 by The Sublime Sphere.
In 2003 was released
Nocturnal Light.
In 2005, during the read of one of her poems, she was overcome with inner images of immense beauty.
Thus she suddenly began to
paint the spiritual themes in her poetry. She called her art work "visual
Sufi poetry".
Aida Touré has since exhibited her art work in the US and Gabon. She is the recipient
of proclamation letters from the City Council of New Orleans and was honored by
Payson Center, Tulane University for excellence in artistic endeavor. She has been featured in a
textbook published the US and Canada and in magazines in Gabon. Her exuberant paintings are in
private collections in Gabon, Mali, France and the US.
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