The exhibition features more than 170 portraits and landscapes chronicling individuals living in displaced and marginalized communities around the world, many times as the result of war, exploitation, and poverty. Photographs in Common Ground span a period from 1989 to 2013, offering deeper insight into major world events, racial strife, and mass global displacement in places such as East Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and the Netherlands. Stories told through Sheikh’s pictures focus on survivors, orphans, and victims of violence and abuse.
Sheikh’s series of photographs have earned him numerous awards and fellowships, including a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, the Henri Cartier-Bresson International Grand Prize, and the Luce Humanitarian Award, among many others.
Fazal Sheikh
Common Ground: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh, 1989-2013
August 13 – November 12, 2017
Denver Art Museum
100 W 14th Ave Pkwy Denver, CO 80204
denverartmuseum.org
Fazal Sheikh, Afghan girl born in exile, Pakistan, 1998, from the series The Victor Weeps. © Fazal Sheikh
Fazal Sheikh, Abshiro Aden Mohammed, Women’s Leader, Somali Refugee Camp, Dagahaley, Kenya, 2000, from the series A Camel for the Son. © Fazal Sheikh
Fazal Sheikh, Alima Hassan Abdullai and her brother Mahmoud, Somali refugee camp, Mandera, Kenya, 1993, from the series A Camel for the Son. © Fazal Sheikh
Fazal Sheikh, Abdul Aziz holding a photograph of his brother Mula Abdul Hakim, Afghan refugee village Khairabad, North Pakistan, 1997, from the series The Victor Weeps. © Fazal Sheikh
Fazal Sheikh, Lukelatabaru’s (“one who was born to make war”) family, Rwandan refugee camp, Lumasi, Tanzania, 1994, from the series A Sense of Common Ground. © Fazal Sheikh
Fazal Sheikh, Abala Dasi (‘Poor woman’), Vrindavan, India, 2005, from the series Moksha. © Fazal Sheikh
Fazal Sheikh, Neela Dey (“Sapphire”), Vrindavan, India, 2005, from the series Moshka. © Fazal Sheikh
Fazal Sheikh, Dr. Jan’s son and friend, Afghan refugee village, Nasirbagh, North West Frontier Province, Pakistan, 1997, from the series The Victor Weeps. © Fazal Sheikh
