Mohammed Sajid's ongoing illustration series, Folks of Kerala, celebrates the invisible fragments of his homeland — the conveniently overlooked yet unavoidable characters who populate Kerala's urban spaces. From flower sellers and fish hawkers to security guards and street sweepers, the subjects in the Bengaluru-based artist's works, gaze intently at the viewer.They are surrounded by the objects, scents, words and tools that define their everyday lives. Rather than allowing them to fade into the background, Sajid gives them names, identities and stories.
Muhammed Sajid
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The second edition of the series is currently in contention for the AOI World Illustration Awards 2026, one of the world's most prestigious illustration competitions. It features eight portraits: a chai maker, security guard, tailor, street sweeper, fish seller, coir worker, postman and flower seller.Born out of what Sajid describes as “homesickness”, spotlights people he encountered every day but rarely paid close attention to. After graduating in Design and Applied Arts from the College of Fine Arts Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram in 2015, he moved to Bengaluru. The transition, and the pace of urban life, prompted him to look more closely at the communities he had left behind.
