Maghras is a farm and community space in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia where local and visiting artists, architects, farmers, cultural practitioners, and community members converge and reflect on the transformations of their lived environment. The project fosters dialogue while evolving a new typology of the farm as a public space—one that hosts studios and programmes for community engagement within an agricultural setting. Through Maghras, practitioners translate their experiences and research into participatory frameworks and experimental, site-responsive productions.

An exploratory workshop at the Maghras base farm organised by a local children’s library, Marj, weaving stories about native ecology. © Abdullah Alshaikh

Gathering at Ali Al Haji’s farm following one of Maghras’ programmes; a morning walk through the ancient village of Al Battaliya.
© Maghras

A film screening of Donkey Race by Mohammed Baqer at Maghras.
© Moath Alyahya

Triennale Milano

The exhibition Maghras at the Triennale di Milano shares research and artistic commissions that are a springboard for a longer continuum of work that engages and reimagines future trajectories for repair and revival.

The exhibition title, Maghras, refers to the traditional measuring unit that describes the space delineated by four palm trees. The unit is transplanted and interpreted as a symbolic frame for the terrain of process and discourse, including the conversations, material traces, soundscapes of field recordings, and speculative gestures emerging from the farm. 

This spatial and conceptual grafting invites audiences into the core of Al Ahsa’s evolving agroecosystems  to reflect on a series of questions central to Maghras’ work: How do we preserve the threads of a rural condition under the pressures of homogenous urban growth? How can we support the decentralised and fragile knowledge systems that are at risk of disappearance? And what forms of repair might reconnect the severed bonds between people, place, ecology, and practice?
 
May 13 – November 9, 2025
Triennale Milano
Viale Alemagna, 6
20121 Milan
Italy

About Maghras

THE FARM

Maghras is a farm and community space in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. Since 2024, Maghras has been graciously hosted by the Abdulmonem Alrashed Humanitarian Foundation farm, a space integral to the pavilon’s programs and conversations aimed at fostering alternative forms of resilience building within the Al Ahsa community.

© Maghras

THE METHODOLOGY

Driven by the belief that Al Ahsa has been studied and represented predominantly through a technical lens, the project team embarked on a comprehensive exploration to uncover the region’s history, cultures, ecologies, and the stories embedded in its agricultural and rural landscapes. The  research looks at the rich knowledge systems— many on the verge of disappearing— and examines their relationship with the evolving spatial fabric and rural infrastructures of modern Al Ahsa

© Maghras

The exhibition’s approach expanded beyond conventional resources to include:

ORAL NARRATIVES
Engaging in one- on-one conversations with 25+ farmers, craftspeople, architects, tradespeople, heritage preservationists, and policy makers in various settings.

CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS
Drawing from literature, poetry, and songs to understand the perspectives of the community and the ways they perceive and articulate the changes in their environment over time.
 
ARCHIVAL RESEARCH
Delving into archives, from institutions like Aramco, Al Darah and the Saudi Irrigation Organization— including drawings, plans, and reports, to trace the visions and strategies that have shaped the region’s Development.
 
MEDIA
Examining photographs, films, GIS data and audio recordings that are both historic and contemporary to reconstruct contexts and analyse spatial and environmental conditions.
 
PROGRAMS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Artists, architects, and cultural practitioners collaborated with the researchers to translate findings and emerging questions and themes into programmes and participatory frameworks —guided walks, somatic workshops, and speculative design workshops— that sought to foster community engagement, collective analysis, and propose experimental approaches to imagining new possibilities and realities.

Ahmed Msallami, a rice and date farmer, shares his experiences with the research team, discussing the changes he has witnessed in his environment throughout his career.”
© Maghras

Abu Adel, a rice farmer and folk musician, performs songs on the oud at the Maghras farm.
© Abdullah Alshaikh

The research room in the farm features a timeline wall, revealing the infrastructural changes that unfolded in the landscape over the years.
© Abdullah Alshaikh

Commissions

LEEN AJLAN (Saudi Arabia, 1997)
Canopy and Harvest Veil, 2025

Produced in collaboration with Mhairi Boyle
Canopy Weavers: Mhairi Boyle, Abbas Al Sadadi, Habib Al Rasool
Harvest Weavers: Ayat Hassan Al Humaid, Zainab Abduljabbar, Hasan Juma

Investigating the expansion of agrarian monoculture and the impact of artificial fertilisers (phosphates) on soil and water quality in Al Ahsa, Leen Ajlan experimented with circular strategies that reconnect craft with agricultural practices through immediate applications in date farms. The Canopy and Harvest Veil encourages the growth of diverse food forests—now in decline—including pomegranates, figs, and Turunj. The covers not only support biodiversity and soil regeneration but also contribute to the production of naturally sized organic dates by protecting the fruit as it grows.

Designed and produced following interviews with Hasawi farmers and in collaboration with local craft communities, the textiles allow craft knowledge (such as medad and khos weaving) to be integrated into agricultural innovation. Composed entirely from natural materials, the structure uses farming byproduct waste to replace what would typically be made of plastic. The work fosters connections between different knowledge systems and creates economic opportunities for local craft communities while combating waste and pollution in Al Ahsa’s farms.

SAWTASURA (formed 2020, Saudi Arabia)
Palm Memory, 2025

Transcript

Sonic Essay

Sawtasura foregrounds women’s oral histories and sonic memory as forms of environmental knowledge—knowledge often distorted or excluded by dominant narratives of development. It brings to light intergenerational knowledge and stories that can help us remember and reimagine how we relate to nature at a time when our bonds with the landscape have frayed.

Through a series of workshops incorporating deep listening, sounding, movement, and dream journaling, Sawtasura created space for social and ecological tensions to be met with openness and a willingness to repair.

The resulting sonic essay, presented in this pavilion, draws from recordings and conversations that emerged during these sessions. It does not aim to represent but to hold together fragments of grief, joy, humor, and faith. In doing so, Sawtasura explores how memory can operate as a dynamic force for new thinking—shaping more integrated futures for generations to come.

MOHAMMED ALFARAJ (Saudi Arabia, 1993)
What Is the Frog Saying?, 2025

In Mohammed Alfaraj’s work we encounter reflections on the possibilities and contradictions that emerge through interspecies collaborations. Drawing from oral traditions, his immersive film and series of clay sculptures tell the story of a palm tree named after a woman, Taleya, who drowned in a nearby spring, becoming a landmark in his village. The narrative is recounted by a frog that was historically found around Al Ahsa’s water canals but is now rarely seen. Through this gesture, Alfaraj offers a reflective lament, an attempt at embodied listening during a moment of emotional and ecological dissonance. He invites us to consider how memory, nature, and storytelling remain intertwined, even as the ecosystems that sustain them begin to vanish.

Maghras Team

Publication

Launched on 1 February 2026, Maghras: A Farm for Experimentation brings together months of research, documentation of programming, and wider conversations on agriculture, infrastructure, and intangible heritage. The publication is available for purchase through Kaph Books and selected bookstores internationally, as well as online.

Structured through a series of commissioned illustrations that set the rhythm of the book, the publication traces a story of Al Ahsa through the entanglements of ecology, community, craft, water infrastructure, and history. With oral history as a central research methodology, the book engages storytelling alongside critical reflections from the Maghras team and invited regional practitioners.

Editors: Lulu Almana, Sara Al Omran, and Latifa Al Khayat
Authors: Civil Architecture, Deema Al Ghunaim, Dzidula Courage Kpodo, Fatima Al Hajji, Fatma & Reem Al Sehlawi, Ghaidaa Gutub, Latifa Al Khayat, Leen Ajlan, Lulu Almana, Mariam Alnoaimi, Mohammed Al Faraj, Sara Al Omran, Sawtasura, and Thamer Al Sunaidi.
Illustrations: Nada Al Mulla
Maps: Hayes Buchanan
Publication Design: world Frank Javier Mondragón with Khaled Esguerra
Copyedited, translated, and published by Kaph Books.

Maghras invites you to join The Umm Sab’aa Storytellers, a community circle led by artist Jumana Emil Abboud, inviting participants to explore storytelling in relation to water in the oasis landscape near Maghras. Working with local folktales, water traditions, and lived experiences, the group will explore stories connected to wells, springs, land, and the imagined dimensions that shape how the oasis is understood and inhabited.  Through deep listening, dialogue, and collaborative writing, participants are invited to reflect on the social, ecological, imaginal, and unseen layers of the landscape. 


Over two weeks,  the Umm Sab’aa Storytellers will work closely together to shape narratives that respond to the changing conditions of the oasis and to imagine how its water lore might speak into the present. The program includes interventions by cultural practitioners, including Sara Al-Omran and Lulu Almana (Maghras), Fatima Al-Hajji (Marj Children’s Library), Maria Alem (Khunfus Publishing), and Nouf Al-Harthi (writer, researcher, and cultural practitioner).  The program concludes with a public gathering and reading bringing together inherited water lore and newly created stories.

The Umm Sab’aa Storytellers

by Jumana Emil Abboud

Media Center

For press inquiries, please contact Paula Ramírez

paula@sendreceive.eu

+49 152 2816 0208

Featured articles

Thank You

This project was generously hosted at the Abdulmonem Alrashed Humanitarian Foundation’s farm in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of:

Saudi Aramco, Saudi Irrigation Organization, Al Ahsa Municipality, 
King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives (Darah), 
King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture in Al Ahsa, MOMAH’s National Urban Design Studio, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and Al Nakhla Non-Profit Foundation for granting us access to their archives and data and supporting our research. 

Special thanks to Abbas Al Jassim, Abdulaziz Alhussaini, Abdulaziz Al Mosa, Abdulaziz Boday, Abdulaziz Alafaliq, Abdulaziz Alrshood, Abdulrahman Al Abdulqader, Abdullah Al Jassim, Abdullah Alshabaan, Abdullah Alshayeb, Ahmed Burshaid, Ahmed Msallami, Al Sheikha Ayat Alhumaid, Ali Al Hajji, Ali Alsultan, Dawood Alhamada, Dr. Fuad Almubarak, Dr. Hajer Al Sultan, Dr. Ibrahim Almubarak, Dr. Mohamed Al Omair, Fatima Al Hajji, Fouad Al Assri, Jaafar Aljubran, Jasem Al Sultan, Makkiya Almuraihel, Mohamed Al Ameer, Mohamed Aldakheel, Mohamed Almuqarrab, Naji Al Assri (Abu Adel), Rabab Al Hajji, Saad Alsaad, Saleh Al Humaid (Abu Ahmad), Sayid Qassim, and all the farmers, artisans, engineers, historians and people of Al Ahsa who kindly shared their time and valuable insights, which profoundly informed and shaped our research.

We are especially grateful to Jaafar Aljubran, Ali Al Hajji, Ali Alsultan, Abdullah Alshayeb, Abdullah Alshabaan and Latifa Alafaliq for graciously opening their communities and networks to us during our fieldwork. 

Outreach for our programming was supported by Marj Bookshop, Dar Nora AlMoosa, Ali Alsultan, Omran Society and Abdulfattah Almomen. 

We extend our deepest thanks to the Ministry of Culture and 
 the Architecture and Design Commission, with special appreciation 
 to Dr Sumaya Al-Solaiman for her trust and confidence in us, and Moudhi Al Touq and Ashwaq Al Braik for their guidance and advice throughout the project. We would also like to thank Martina Uggeri, our project manager, whose dedication, and coordination were instrumental from beginning to end. 

Warm thanks to Abdulaziz and Fatima Alafaliq for welcoming the team and hosting group meetings at their farm.



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moc.gov.sa
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© 2025 Architecture and Design Commission, Ministry of Culture, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
© 2025 Kaph Books