Book Launch
Sunday, October 25, 2pm
Mohammad Omer Khalil: Common Ground
Edited by Amina Ahmed and Jenna Hamed
The Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA)
Location: 225 W 13th St, New York, NY 10011
PREORDER here
RSVP Encouraged
Join us on Sunday, October 25, at 2pm, for the release of the inaugural Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop (RBPMW) Publication, Mohammad Omer Khalil: Common Ground edited by Amina Ahmed and Jenna Hamed at the Center for Art, Research & Alliances (225 West 13th Street, NYC 10011)
The afternoon will bring together readings and open conversations with the artist, Master Printmaker Mohammad Omer Khalil, joined by Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Artistic Director and Master Printmaker Jazmine Catasús, Director of Programs and Partnerships Essye Klempner, contributing writers Tumelo Mosaka and Omar Berrada, Sudanese singer, songwriter and ethnomusicologist, Alsarah and writer, editor, and literary translator Mayada Ibrahim; Mohammad Omer Khalil: Common Ground exhibition curators and publication editors, Amina Ahmed and Jenna Hamed; and friends.
Mohammad Omer Khalil: Common Ground is a collection of essays, artwork & studio documentation, with archival ephemera, chronicling Khalil’s formative years. Starting with early schooling, his journey from Sudan to Italy in 1963, and his arrival in New York in 1967. The book traces significant milestones in Khalil’s career: his friendship with Robert Blackburn, the founding of MOK Studio, and his forty years of teaching. Khalil’s 1978 journey to Asilah, Morocco, with Blackburn and Camille Billops marked the inaugural season of the annual Cultural Moussem. A formal invitation from festival founders Mohamed Melehi and Mohamed Benaissa followed, beginning Khalil’s twenty-seven year leadership of the Engraver's Atelier. Seven decades of paintings and etchings speak to Khalil’s technical mastery and the profound influence of music, literature, and travel on his art.
The publication was developed for Mohammad Omer Khalil: Common Ground, the multi-city exhibition initiated and anchored at the Blackburn Study Center in March 2026, with Khalil’s works simultaneously shown at venues across New York, Philadelphia, and Dearborn. This collaborative publication reflects and extends the Robert Blackburn ethos of community building.
Together with the exhibition documentation, the book presents a foreword by RBPMW co-directors Jazmine Catasús and Essye Klempner; a biographical essay by Amina Ahmed and Jenna Hamed; and contributions by independent curator and writer, Omar Berrada; Curator in African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University, Tumelo Mosaka; Curator of Islamic Art at The Metropolitan Navina Haidar, and Curator of Drawings and Prints, Jennifer Farrell; Ksenia Nouril; Dr. Bayan Abubakr, Sudanese Historian; Olivia Shao, Curator at The Drawing Center; Sumesh Sharma Curator and founder of the Clark House Initiative Mumbai; Ben Rejali, Editor of Khabar Keslan; and Maryam Sophia Jahanbin, Writer and Researcher. The publication also includes personal reflections from Khalil's children.
Design + art direction: Jenna Hamed, Jay Seven Inc.
Pre-press + design support: Faride Mereb and Oriana Nuzzi, Letra Muerta Inc.
Printing + binding: Radix Co-op
Blackburn Study Center Programs & Publications are made possible with major support from the Teiger Foundation.
CARA (Center for Art, Research and Alliances) is an arts nonprofit, research center, and publisher dedicated to expanding historical records to reflect the abundance of art’s pasts, presents, and futures.
Mohammad Omer Khalil (b. 1936, Burri, Sudan) is a New York-based artist and master printmaker. He studied at the School of Fine and Applied Arts in Khartoum until 1963, before pursuing fresco, printmaking, and mosaic in Florence and Ravenna, Italy, where he developed an approach integrating painting and etching.
In 1967, Khalil immigrated to New York City, where he established M.O.K., a studio dedicated to producing collaborative print editions for artists and galleries. For 27 years, he directed the printmaking workshop in Asilah, Morocco, working alongside an international community of resident artists. Over four decades, he has mentored and taught generations of printmakers at Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, New York University, and Columbia University.
Khalil has exhibited his prints and paintings widely across the United States, with notable presentations at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, New York City; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Washington and Lee University Museums, Lexington, Virginia; and Twelve Gates Arts, Philadelphia. Public collections include the British Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Public Library, National Academy of Design, and Library of Congress. His paintings are also in the National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Internationally, Khalil has held solo exhibitions at Al-Bareh Gallery, Manama; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; and The Mosaic Rooms, London. His work has also been presented at Meem Gallery, Dubai; Mathaf, Doha; Sharjah Art Foundation; and Kunsthalle, Darmstadt. He has participated in numerous biennials, including those in Ljubljana and Osaka. Honors include First Prize at the 1993 International Cairo Biennale and the 2003 National Academy Award for Printmaking, New York.