Initially conceived in early 2001 to explore the range and diversity of British Muslims’ experience of life in the UK, the exhibition expanded whilst touring to include artists from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Middle East, opening up a dialogue on identity and the broader aspects of contemporary Muslim experience in a post modern world.

At the exhibtion's inception, eight young UK-based photographers were commissioned to produce new bodies of work for the exhibition. Their individual approaches embrace the full breadth of photography practice – from social documentary, portrait, landscape and conceptual strategies. Not all work in the exhibition presents positive aspects of the interaction between Muslim and non-Muslim Britons.  Instead the artists have drawn on the personal, private inner fabric of individuals’ lives as well as the broader political and social realities of daily existence. Professional curators from Malaysia and Indonesia were invited to advise on the project and to work in consultation with the UK experts.

Each of the UK artists involved proposed their own subjects for the exhibition:

Rehan Jamil, working in black and white, has investigated the typology of religious buildings in Britain.
Life-sized colour portraits are the format chosen by Sam Piyasena to investigate the motivation behind British converts to Islam.
Suki Dhanda has documented the life of a teenage British Muslim girl living in the Whitechapel area of London.
Amyandtanveer’s large colour photographs depict prominent Muslim performers whose faith has inspired their art.
Jagtar Semplay’s colour photographs compare the lives of British Muslims, young with old, and how both respond to living within a secular British society. Jagtar’s subjects are principally found in the large northern cities historically associated with Muslim immigration, Leeds and Bradford. Anthony Lam has given his impression, through a series of colour landscapes, of how Britain might appear to asylum seekers and refugees. His work is based on his experiences of working with a youth group comprised almost entirely of young Bosnian and Somali Muslim refugees.
Tim Smith provides a historical context for the exhibition. By using archival material and studio portraits, Smith’s body of work looks at the motivation of the first Muslim immigrants to the UK after the Second World War and the industries in which they worked, centred upon Sheffield, Leeds and Bradford.

As the exhibition began its touring life visiting Indonesia, Bangladesh and Malaysia in 2003 and 2004, the British Council approached Malaysian and Indonesian photographers to produce separate bodies of work that reflect the broader aspects of contemporary Muslim experience in these countries. The new work helped to create an immediate point of reference for South East Asian audiences and set a context within which to view the UK exhibition.

Throughout 2005 and 2006 the British Council has been touring Common Ground in the Middle East and Gulf States – Bahrain November 2006, Sharjah February 2006, Abu Dhabi March 2006, Saudi Arabia April 2006, and Oman June 2006  – and here too a total of nine photographers from the region have produced parallel bodies of work to be shown alongside the British imagery.

From October 2006 the exhibition will tour to Russia and Europe.

Individual bi-lingual catalogues have been produced by the venues as the exhibition has toured, reflecting the local audience needs.

For further information please contact Sean Williams