Photo by Tony Campell © 2011 Aïda Touré

Born in Gabon, to a Malian Muslim father and to a Gabonese mother, Aïda Touré 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 was drawn to Islam; the sublimity of its inner motions inspired her to compose poetic works of a spiritual nature which reflect the state of divine remembrance.

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 artwork “Visual Sufi Poetry“.

Aïda Touré has since exhibited her spiritual paintings 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 textbooks published in the US and Canada and in magazines internationally. Her exuberant paintings are in private collections in Gabon, Mali, France and the US. Aïda Touré has also been a mentor for the New York University’s focus mentorship program. In 2010, in response to her audience’s inquiries about smaller pieces, the artist released “Fragrance of Light” an innovative jewelry line  which consists of miniature wearable paintings.