Artist Biography

Muzafar Ali is a Hazara photographer and human rights activist from Afghanistan. He is director of a refugee-led education program in Indonesia and Thailand, Cisarua Learning. Currently based in South Australia, Ali is studying at the University of South Australia and is an advocate for refugee rights and agency and speaks out on behalf of refugees ‘stuck in limbo’.  

After spending the early years of his life in Pakistan, Ali returned to Afghanistan in late 2004 after many of his friends had been killed in various incidents in the Pakistani city of Quetta, Baluchistan province. In 2005 he commenced work with the United Nations and bought a camera with his first salary. His UN roles included work in strengthening democracy, rule of law, governance, and security, as well as monitoring human rights.

Visiting the remote areas of the Hazarajat region of Afghanistan, Ali photographed the lives the Hazaras. He became one of the first young Afghan photographers to document his nation’s progress emerging from the ashes of war. His photographs depict the beauty and simplicity of daily life of ordinary Afghans.  

Ali’s UN work placed his life 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 is currently managing the Cisarua Learning program in Australia that funds refugee-led schools in Indonesia and Thailand, providing education to more than 1000 students.