The ecological and cultural heritage of Nabih Saleh Island through a textile installation that interlaces craft, memory and environment.

Bahrain-based architecture and design platform Maraj explores the layered relationship between ecology, culture and community on Nabih Saleh - an island positioned between Tubli’s wetlands and Sitra’s industrial zone. Translating oral histories and natural forms into textile architecture, the work creates an immersive spatial narrative of place and loss.

Sourcing materials from Bahrain and working closely with local artisans, embroiderers and tailors, the installation takes shape as a textile enclosure embroidered with depictions of the island’s flora, fauna and surrounding waters of Tubli Bay. Drawing inspiration from thob al nashil, a traditional Bahraini garment, the layered mesh structure combines rhythm, ornament and proportion to evoke the island’s disappearing ecology and cultural memory.

About Maraj:

Founded by architects Latifa Alkhayat and Maryam Aljomairi, Maraj is a Bahrain-based architecture and design platform dedicated to research, education and practice. The studio engages with craft, materiality, and storytelling to explore how architecture can document, preserve and reimagine the cultural and ecological narratives of the Gulf region.