International migration in modern-day Britain is celebrated as part of a new series of portraits by international award-winning artist Mahtab Hussain.

The exhibition titled, The Commonality of Strangers opened on Friday 24 June, the day after Britons voted to leave the European Union, steering the UK on a course of uncertainty, and critically, effecting the fate of those who have chosen to make the UK their home. 

Focusing on the migrant, Mahtab Hussain’s series of intimate portraits taken in a culturally diverse neighbourhood of Nottingham, combines photography and text to explore important relationships between identity, heritage and displacement resulting from migration, the truths of which are rarely revealed in the public realm.

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Visitors to the exhibition have a unique opportunity to discover personal stories of people leaving their homeland, their family and friends, in desperate search of a better life.

The Commonality of Strangers serves to contextualise and humanise the migrant story, urging viewers to move beyond widely held stereotypes, assumptions and scare mongering tactics used unashamedly by politicians in the Brexit campaign.

Immersing himself in local communities during a research residency of five months, the artist spent time walking and exploring the streets of Nottingham near where NAE is based.

Most of the people who feature in The Commonality of Strangers, have moved to the UK from abroad, and include people originating from a multitude of locations including Algeria, Ghana, Iraq, Jamaica, Kurdistan, Malawi, South Africa, Sudan, and Europe.

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The narratives that accompany each sitter’s portrait are often deeply shocking; the magnitude of each journey is further heightened by Hussian’s methodology as he presents stunning portraits in everyday scenarios, compelling the viewer to interrelate with the sitter. 

Hussain asks the viewer to consider the commonality of mankind’s wants and needs, whilst emphasising that the veneer of everyday life can easily veil the immense struggles and hidden contexts in which people live, and their often tragic pasts.

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Amid these turbulent times, Mahtab feels passionately that these people’s voices need to be heard.

He said, “With the narrowest of victories, the UK majority has chosen to leave the EU. This move was not about sovereignty; it was about turning our back on the immigrant. Fear, anger and postcolonial nostalgia has given rise to xenophobic and racist attacks across the UK, making it all the more important to humanise the migrant story.

"After working on this commission, I concluded there are more commonalities in us than being strangers and we must be honest for positive change.

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"I'm not going to hate those who voted to leave. I'm going to love them as my family. They are angry for a reason and we must listen to their fears, but we must show them that the path of hate and fear is misguided. I am often asked, “Who are you, what is your identity?”, and I only have one response, "I'm like you, I'm a human being.” We need to move beyond the hate.

The exhibition tours to Favara in southern Sicily, at FARM Cultural Park (FCP) until July 13.