Afghanistan Through the Lens: A Journey in Pictures by Muzafar Ali

Join us for an exhibit of photography by Muzafar Ali, Hazara photographer and human rights activist from Afghanistan. 

The exhibit will portray life in Afghanistan, particularly for women and girls. 

While the exhibit will be open every day in June, we have a special launch event on Wednesday the 5th of June from 5:30 - 7:30.

Come prepared to view a selection of Muzafar's photographs, hear from special guests and enjoy a BBQ dinner prepared by Kazan Central Asian Kitchen. 

This event is supported by the Victorian Government. Thanks to our event supporter, Ballarat International Foto Biennale (23 Aug - 19 Oct 2025). 

ABOUT MUZAFAR 

Muzafar Ali is a highly-regarded human rights activist, filmmaker and photographer.

Between 2004-2011 Muzafar worked for the United Nations in Afghanistan and bought a camera with his first salary.

Muzafar’s role with the UN included monitoring human rights. Muzafar is, himself, a member of Afghanistan’s oppressed Hazara minority and his work with the UN placed him in danger. In 2005, the Taliban targeted his car with an Improvised Explosive Device and he was threatened by local warlords and corrupt government officials. By 2013 Muzafar had become a refugee and journeyed to Indonesia where he co-founded the first refugee-led school in West Java. Muzafar currently manages the Cisarua Learning program in Australia that funds refugee-led schools in Indonesia and Thailand. These schools provide education for more than 1000 students.

Resettled to Australia in 2015, Muzafar uses his art to connect communities and raise the voices of refugees. He starred in and co-produced feature documentaries The Staging Post (2017) and Watandar, My Countryman (2022) and DreamBIG Festival theatre production Education Is A Dream (2023). He’s worked as a cultural consultant on many productions including the ABC series Stateless (2020) and Windmill Theatre’s Amphibian (2020). He is the 2022 Fred Hollows Humanitarian of the Year, Patron of the Rural Australians for Refugees and Board Member of the Jesuit Refugee Service. He has exhibited his photographs in Afghanistan, the Republic of Korea, the USA, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands and Australia.

Muzafar visits remote areas of Afghanistan, including Nahor where Ballarat Afghan Action Group is active in food aid and teaching. He photographs the lives of Afghanistan’s oppressed Hazara minority. He is in Afghanistan as we are hanging his photographs for this exhibition and will return in Refugee Week to Ballarat where he will present the film, Watandar My Countryman, which he made with his friend and colleague, Jolyon Hoff.