For this special appearance at the Blackburn Study Center, ElSaffar performs solo, combining his trumpet, santur, voice with analog modular synthesizer, inviting listeners on a meditative journey into trance-like states. He will be joined by Zahra Ali.

Amir ElSaffar is an Iraqi-American composer, trumpeter, santur player, vocalist, and modular synthesist, working at the intersections of jazz, Western classical, Iraqi and Arabic Maqam, and electro-acoustic music. Described as “the celebrated trumpeter and composer who explores vital connections between jazz and Arabic music” (NYT), and “The Innovator” (SPIN), ElSaffar has created a unique microtonal language that merges the Arabic maqam modal system with jazz and Western classical harmony.  He leads Two Rivers and the 17-piece Rivers of Sound Orchestra, combining jazz and improvised music with the Iraqi and Middle Eastern maqam. He has created works for jazz ensembles, string quartets, mixed chamber ensembles, and symphony orchestras, in addition to leading numerous hybrid projects with Raga, Flamenco, and North African trance music.  In his most recent work he incorporates electronic elements, such as analog modular synthesizer. He is also the director of Maqam Studio, a space in Brooklyn that fosters community, innovation, and preservation of the Maqam musical language.

Librettist Zahra Ali is a writer, professor, and feminist scholar. Born in Paris to Iraqi refugee parents, she grew up in France, lived in Iraq, and is now based in New York City. She is a professor of Sociology at Rutgers University-Newark, and is the founder of Critical Studies of Iraq. Ali writes about people surviving loss and exile, finding meaning and beauty in rising up against oppression, dictatorship, and war. Ali is also an Iraqi Maqam vocalist, trained by Hamid Al-Saadi, the only surviving master who had the entire repertoire of the genre memorized.

in artist Khari Johnson and the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop for a drop-in zine- and collage-making workshop inspired by Act Black: Posters from Black American Stage & Screen and Love & Fury: New York’s Fight Against AIDS. Using Xerox printouts, magazines, and found materials, participants will create their own zines and posters exploring themes of visibility, performance, community, and protest. Guests will be encouraged to remix imagery from print publications into bold, personal compositions, though all are welcome to create whatever inspires them.

No experience necessary—just bring your creativity and curiosity! Supplies are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

This drop-in activity is pay-what-you-wish. Donations are appreciated and encouraged! 

MORE INFORMATION heres://posterhouse.org/event/first-friday-drop-in-printmaking-with-robert-blackburn-printmaking-studio-2/

Khari Johnson-Ricks is an artist and athlete whose work includes zines, collage, works on paper, and Black vernacular dance. Through workshops and collaborative artmaking, Khari creates spaces for play, connection, and self-expression. They are also passionate about preserving Black dance histories and celebrating the role of movement in community building and storytelling.

Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop (RBPMW) is a dynamic community print studio that honors the legacy of pioneering artist and master printmaker Robert Blackburn (1920–2003). Founded in the spirit of inclusivity and artistic excellence, RBPMW provides a supportive, collaborative space for artists of all backgrounds to explore and expand their printmaking practice.

Accessibility Note: Masks and clear masks are available free of charge at the museum. Assistive listening devices and stools are available. ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or a CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) is also available upon request. Please contact access@posterhouse.org or (914) 295-2387 to request interpretation services and to address any other accessibility needs. For other event-related questions, please contact events@posterhouse.org.

Blackburn Study Center
Saturday, May 30, 4PM

Join us for an afternoon of readings with four New York-based Sudanese voices.

Daad Sharfi is a poet and immigrant-rights advocate from Chicago, by way of Sudan. She earned a BA in economics and another in ethnicity, race and migration from Yale University. She is an alum of Winter Tangerine and Cave Canem workshops and won a Rad(ical) Poetry Consortium fellowship in 2020. Her work has been featured in the 20.35 Africa anthology, Sawti, the Drinking Gourd, PANK and elsewhere. Currently, she lives in Brooklyn and is pursuing her JD at NYU Law, where you'll often find her daydreaming in class about the endless possibilities of language.

Dalia Elhassan is a Sudanese-American poet and writer based in NYC. She is the author of In Half Light, a chapbook in the New-Generation African Poets Series (Sita) published in collaboration with Akashic Books and the African Poetry Book Fund. Her work is featured in a number of publications, including The Kenyon Review, The Oakland Arts Review, and Rattle #59. She is the recipient of the Hajja Razia Sharif Sheikh Prize for nonfiction and was shortlisted for the 2018 Brunel International African Poetry Prize.

Mayada Ibrahim is a literary translator, editor, and writer based in Queens, New York, with roots in Khartoum and London, working between Arabic and English. Her translations have received the inaugural PEN Presents x International Booker Prize grant and the English PEN Translates Award, and she has been awarded the MacDowell Fellowship. Her work has appeared in Dolce Stil Criollo, The Common, Words Without Borders, A Perfect Vacuum, and Willows House in South Sudan. She is the managing editor at 52 Walker, a David Zwirner gallery. Previously, she worked with Tilted Axis Press and Bloomsbury Publishing (BQFP).

Mohammed Zenia is a Sudanese/Eritrean poet. They are the author of Tel Aviv, James Baldwin’s Lungs in the 80s and Black Bedouin. Their work has appeared in e-flux, the Poetry Project and 240 magazine, among other publications.

RSVP.

The Africa Center
Saturday, May 30
Africa Day Drop-In Activities
1280 5th Ave, New York, NY 10029

More info.

Queens Museum
Sunday, May 17; 2-4PM
New New Yorkers Mohammad Omer Khalil, Reflections from the World Fair: A Print Workshop
More info.
Flushing Meadows - Corona Park

Visit | Mohammad Omer Khalil & Selections from the Blackburn Archives Tour

Friday May 15, 11:00am

Join us for a private walkthrough of "Common Ground: Mohammad Omer Khalil", curated by Jenna Hamed and Amina Ahmed.

This six-decade survey traces Khalil’s journey from early etchings in Florence to vibrant works from Asilah and recent series inspired by literature and music. The tour will also include select viewings of African artists from our collection, including Durant Sihlali, Dumile Feni, Solomon Wangboje, and Keita Souleymane.

Brooklyn Rail's New Social Environment

Joshua Chee Sanford with Mohammad Omer Khalil, Curators Jenna Hamed and Amina Ahmed for a conversation on Zoom.

Anthology Film Archives
Tuesday, May 5
Mohammad Omer Khalil Selects

Two films:

6:15PM - Umm Kulthum: A Voice Like Egypt (Dir. Michal Goldman)

8:45PM -  The Chalk Garden (Dir. Ronald Neame)

UMM KULTHUM: A VOICE LIKE EGYPT

1996, 67 min, 16mm-to-DCP. In English and Arabic with English subtitles.

This documentary follows the rise to widespread fame of Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, also known as Fatima Ibrahim al-Sayyid al-Beltagy (1898-1975), who was born in the rural village of Tammay al-Zahayrah. She would soon become one of the most powerful voices in Egypt and across the Arab world, captivating audiences with her commanding vocals radiating across airwaves, and her mesmerizing stage presence in often sold-out live performances. Narrated by Omar Sharif, this 1996 documentary traces her influence and artistry through performance footage and interviews with friends, colleagues, and everyday Egyptians, reflecting on her life, career, and daring political stances. The profound influence Umm Kulthum’s music has had on Mohammad Omer Khalil’s life and work is reflected in the numerous collage paintings and prints he has created in tribute to the singer.

Tues, May 5 at 6:15.

THE CHALK GARDEN

1964, 106 min, 35mm-to-DCP. Dir. Ronald Neame. With Deborah Kerr, Hayley Mills, and John Mills.

Set on the cliffs of England’s south coast, THE CHALK GARDEN centers on a troubled household marked by emotional distance and concealed pasts. A headstrong, destructive 16-year-old girl and her exacting grandmother struggle to coexist, their relationship strained by mistrust and unspoken histories. The arrival of a mysterious governess begins to unsettle the household, as long-buried secrets gradually surface and fragile bonds are tentatively rebuilt, mirrored by the slow cultivation of the once-barren chalk garden. After seeing the film in 1965, dubbed in Italian, artist Mohammad Omer Khalil created one of his earliest etchings, depicting the chalk garden. The work, “Il Giardino Di Gesso” (1965) is on view alongside its plate in his solo exhibition Common Ground at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Study Center.

Tues, May 5 at 8:45.

More info.

32 Second Avenue New York, NY 10003
 

Maqām Studio 
Sunday, April 26, 3PM
A concert celebrating Umm Kulthum through song and painting, inspired by the exhibition "Mohammad Omer Khalil: Common Ground".

Vocalist George Ziadeh will perform two of Umm Kulthum’s classical masterpieces: Ruba῾iyyat al-Khayyam رباعيات الخيام, based on the 13th-century quatrains of the Persian poet Omar Khayyam, and Hakam ῾Alayna al-Hawa حكم علينا الهوى, the final song Umm Kulthum performed in 1973. The two works, emblematic of Arab music’s golden age, will be reinterpreted by Ziadeh and his ensemble. This tribute will guide listeners into tarab, the state of emotional enchantment that the genre is meant to inspire.

RSVP

Homage to Umm Kalthoum (2013) Mohammad Omer Khalil

Blackburn Study Center
Wednesday, April 22, 7PM
Songs of return, Aghani Albanat, and original compositions from Alsarah and the Nubatones.

This live music performance will draw from Nubian songs of return, Aghani Albanat, and original compositions by Alsarah and the Nubatones.

Alsarah is a Sudanese singer, songwriter, ethnomusicologist and cultural producer based in Brooklyn NY. She leads the internationally acclaimed band Alsarah & the Nubatones which has released over 5 albums in the past 15 years and toured the world spreading their music and awareness about Sudan, Nubia, borders and migration. As a former refugee Alsarah is deeply aware that in times of crisis, music becomes a site of memory, resistance, and reimagination. In a life shaped by displacement, her approach reflects both the urgency of preservation and the necessity of transformation in a body of work that presents Sudanese and Nubian music not as an artifact but as a living evolving politically aware practice.

Beyond performance, she co-founded Sunduq Al Sudan, a mutual aid initiative that has raised and distributed over $100K in direct support to mutual aid networks on the ground in Sudan. As an Ethnomusicologist she was the on site adviser for the award winning documentary Beats of the Antonov which highlighted the connection between war music and identity in Sudan specifically the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile.

She also created Festival Alshaab and The People’s Band, a residency and cultural exchange initiative bringing displaced Sudanese musicians together in Uganda to rebuild community through music and to break down ethnic divisions exacerbated by war.

Twelve Gates Arts, PA
Saturday, April 18, 1PM

Twelve Gates will host a public scholarly conversation that engages 12G's iteration of Common Ground, honoring Mohammed Omer Khalil's legacy.

On Saturday, April 18th, 2026, from 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET, at Twelve Gates Arts, we will host a public scholarly conversation that engages 12G's iteration of Common Ground, honoring Mohammed Omer Khalil's legacy. The panel will explore Khalil's work on view and draw connections between his practice and South Asia. The conversation will feature scholar of Black Diasporic Art, Anna Arabindon-Kesson, Sudanese historian, Bayan Abubakr, and others, to be announced.

Common Ground XI by Mohammad Omer Khalil (C. 1985-95)

Twelve Gates Arts
Saturday, April 11

In this watercolor monotype printmaking workshop, students will learn the art of spontaneity and collaboration with a printing press.

On Saturday, April 11th, 2026, from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET, at Twelve Gates Arts, we will host a Watercolor Monotype Printmaking workshop with Jazmine Catasús. Tickets to this workshop will be free of charge, however registration is required.

In this watercolor monotype printmaking workshop, students will learn the art of spontaneity and collaboration with a printing press. By working directly onto plexiglass with water-soluble crayons, students will learn how to transfer images and forms onto paper.

Blackburn Study Center
Tuesday, April 7, 2PM
Walkthrough and Conversation with Mohammad Omer Khalil in partnership with the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) For IFPDA VIP Ticket Holders

Photos: Leslie Jean Bart

Mohammed Omer Khalil: Common Ground

Friday, April 3, 2026 6:00 PM

Twelve Gates Arts
106 North 2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19106, U.S.

Twelve Gates Arts in Philadelphia exhibits Khalil’s work paying homage to Sudan, featuring a selection of collage paintings from the Suakin series alongside a portfolio of etchings based on Tayeb Salih’s novel, Season of Migration to the North (1966). The gallery invites the local community by providing reading materials and rare footage of Sudan, serving as a space for research.

On view from April 3–May 15, Mohammad Omer Khalil: Common Ground is a survey exhibition of works by the New York-based Sudanese artist and master printmaker Mohammad Omer Khalil (b.1936), widely recognized as the first major printmaker from the Arab world. Curated by Amina Ahmed and Jenna Hamed in partnership with the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, 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 and multi-city exhibition unfolds across five partner venues including the Blackburn Study Center (New York), Twelve Gates Arts (Philadelphia), Arab American National Museum (Dearborn), Maqām Studio (Brooklyn) and Jay Seven Inc (Brooklyn), alongside a robust series of programs and workshops in partnership with The Africa Center, Anthology Film Archives, Pratt Institute, Queens Museum.

Displays will also be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The New York Public Library.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue featuring essays from the co-curators alongside Dr. Bayan Abubakr, Sudanese historian at Yale University; Omar Berrada, writer, curator, and Director of Dar al-Ma'mûn, Marrakech; Amir ElSaffar, composer, jazz trumpeter and vocalist; Jennifer Farrell, Jordan Schnitzer Curator of Drawings and Prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Tumelo Mosaka, Curator in African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University; Navina Najat Haidar, Curator of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Ben Rejali, Editor of Khabar Keslan; Olivia Shao, Curator at the Drawing Center and Khalil’s former student; Ksenia Nouril, Assistant Director of the International Program at the Museum of Modern Art; and Sumesh Sharma, Curator and Founder of the Clark House Initiative, Mumbai.

More Info.

Blackburn Study Center
Wednesday, April 1, 7PM
The Longest River in the World: Limitless Possibility of Nile Melodies

Original compositions inspired by golden era Sudanese and Egyptian music performed by Zekkereya El-Magharbel and Kweku Sumbry.

This concert celebrates the legacy of composers from the 'Golden Era' of both Sudanese and Egyptian music, with a presentation of original works that showcase the beauty of our tradtional melodies, and the unlimited potential they have for adaptation.

Zekkereya El-magharbel: Trombone

Kweku Sumbry: Drumset, Percussion

Blackburn Study Center
Saturday, March 28, 3 - 6PM
Opening Reception: Mohammad Omer Khalil

Twelve Gates Arts in Philadelphia exhibits Khalil’s work paying homage to Sudan, featuring a selection of collage paintings from the Suakin series alongside a portfolio of etchings based on Tayeb Salih’s novel, Season of Migration to the North (1966). The gallery invites the local community by providing reading materials and rare footage of Sudan, serving as a space for research.

On view from March 28–May 31, Mohammad Omer Khalil: Common Ground is a survey exhibition of works by the New York-based Sudanese artist and master printmaker Mohammed Omer Khalil (b.1936), widely recognized as the first major printmaker from the Arab world. Curated by Amina Ahmed and Jenna Hamed with the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, 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 and multi-city exhibition unfolds across five partner venues including the Blackburn Study Center (New York), Twelve Gates Arts (Philadelphia), Arab American National Museum (Dearborn), Maqām Studio (Brooklyn) and Jay Seven Inc (Brooklyn), alongside a robust series of programs and workshops in partnership with The Africa Center, Anthology Film Archives, Pratt Institute, Queens Museum and New York Public Library.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue featuring essays from the co-curators alongside Dr. Bayan Abubakr, Sudanese historian at Yale University; Omar Berrada, writer, curator, and Director of Dar al-Ma'mûn, Marrakech; Amir ElSaffar, composer, jazz trumpeter and vocalist; Jennifer Farrell, Jordan Schnitzer Curator of Drawings and Prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Tumelo Mosaka, Curator in African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University; Navina Najat Haidar, Curator of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Ben Rejali, Editor of Khabar Keslan; Olivia Shao, Curator at the Drawing Center and Khalil’s former student; Ksenia Nouril, Assistant Director of the International Program at the Museum of Modern Art; and Sumesh Sharma, Curator and Founder of the Clark House Initiative, Mumbai.