PHILADELPHIA — “The Dogon: Work, Women and Water” opens at the University of Pennsylvania’s Arthur Ross Gallery on Nov. 5. 

Featuring 15 photographs by renowned Magnum photographer Stuart Franklin, this exhibit is in cooperation with the 2010-11 Year of Water at Penn.

Last year, the Voss Foundation commissioned Franklin to photograph its efforts to provide clean drinking water to the Dogon region of Mali, a land-locked country in western Africa.

The series of photographs depict a desert landscape, where water is paramount to survival, and focuses on women and water, designed to increase the awareness of the global water crisis.  The images invite the viewer to consider water as a precious resource rather than an endless commodity.

Famous for his 1989 photo of a man standing up to a tank in China’s Tiananmen Square, Franklin has photographed many situations, including the U.S. involvement in Honduras, unemployment in Japan and flooding in Sudan.

Franklin will deliver a lecture in conjunction with the exhibit on Thursday, Nov. 4, at 5 p.m.  “The Dogon: Work, Women and Water” runs through Jan. 9.

The Office of the Provost and the African Studies Center at Penn provided programming support for this exhibition.

The Arthur Ross Gallery is at 220 S. 34th St.  Hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and weekends, noon-5 p.m.

Additional information is available at 215-898-2083 or www.upenn.edu/ARG.