Common Ground: An Exhibition Symposium

This symposium, hosted at the Blackburn Study Center, is an opportunity for Pratt faculty, scholars, writers, and practitioners to engage in critical dialogue with the installed artwork of artist and master printmaker, Mohammed Omer Khalil. Panelists and participants will directly engage with his etchings and paintings through moderated conversations. These discussions will ground the dialogue in the artist's compositions, techniques, and influences, exploring the multi-layered dimensions of his practice across four distinct topics.

10-11:20PM: Pedagogy and Practice

This session explores Khalil’s dual role as a master technician and educator, focusing on his enduring print legacy. This discussion will focus on his relationship with Robert Blackburn and how the collaborative ethos of the Printmaking Workshop (PMW) shaped his teaching philosophy. This discussion will include insight into his technical printmaking methods, referring to the works installed.

11:30-12:50PM: Blackburn and Khalil: Collections and Print Legacy
Institutional History, Archiving, and Preservation

This panel expands on Khalil’s profound ties to Robert Blackburn by examining their shared impact on the institutional landscape of printmaking. Featuring curators and representatives from major collecting institutions, the discussion will explore how the works of Khalil, Blackburn, and the historic Printmaking Workshop are acquired, preserved, and exhibited. Panelists will address the vital role institutions play in safeguarding African American and diasporic print history, ensuring that this enduring print legacy is kept vibrant and inspiring for generations.

12:50-1:30 Break

1:30-2:50PM: Geographies & Literature: Sudan, Morocco, and the Written Word
Art History, Migration, and Text

Joined by curators and art historians, this panel contextualizes Khalil’s life contribution to African Modernism. The conversation traces his trajectory through Sudan and Morocco, examining how these landscapes shaped his vision. A key focus will be discussing Khalil’s Suakin series and his engagement with poetry and literature, specifically his visual reinterpretation of Tayeb Salih’s classic novel, Season of Migration to the North and Harlem written by his friend the Syrian poet Adonis. We will explore how he translates narrative and text into image.

3-4:20PM: The Eye and The Listening
Focus: Music, Poetry, and the Harlem Works

Featuring musicians and cultural critics, this panel focuses on the sensory convergence of sound, text, and the urban landscape. Under the theme The Eye and The Listening, speakers will examine Khalil’s Harlem works, investigating how the rhythms of the city—from Jazz to the Blues—intertwine with his engagement with poetry. The discussion will explore how Khalil translates these auditory and lyrical experiences into visual media, creating a dialogue between the street, the sound, and the print.

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is a focused survey of work by the New York-based Sudanese artist and master printmaker Mohammed Omer Khalil (b.1936). The exhibition presents a selection of his paintings and printed works spanning six decades, employing collage and offering tribute to the scenes, sounds and syntax influential to Khalil’s visual language.

The multi-venue exhibition is curated by Amina Ahmed and Jenna Hamed in partnership with the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, in addition to partners at Twelve Gates Arts, Philadelphia; Arab American National Museum, Dearborn; Maqam Studio, Brooklyn; Jay Seven Inc, Brooklyn.

About EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop

Incorporated in 1992, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (EFA) is dedicated to providing artists across all disciplines with space, tools, and a cooperative forum for the development of individual practice. After awarding 107 grants in its early years, EFA transformed its impact in 1998 by acquiring a twelve-story building in Midtown Manhattan, creating a permanent hub for long-term artist support, collaboration, and innovation.

Founded in 1947 by visionary artist and master printer Robert Blackburn, the Printmaking Workshop is the longest-running community print shop in the United States. Celebrated for its spirit of collaboration and inclusivity, the workshop has long served as a creative haven for artists of all backgrounds, fostering technical innovation and aesthetic exploration in printmaking. In 2002, Blackburn ensured the continuity of this legacy by relocating the workshop to the EFA, where it now operates as the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop (RBPMW). Today, RBPMW continues Blackburn’s mission by providing an accessible and affordable studio environment that supports both traditional and contemporary printmaking techniques, and stewards the Robert Blackburn Print Collection.

Learn more about the organization at: www.efanyc.org | www.rbpmw-efanyc.org

Detail of Season of Migration to the North II, 2018, Mohammad Omer Khalil

Courtesy of the artist.

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Host or Publisher Blackburn Printshop w/ Amina Ahmed & Jenna Hamed