Kafala

The Kafala (kafāla / كفالة) system governs migrant labor across much of the Gulf — a sponsorship structure that, in practice, has long been criticized for tying a worker’s legal status to their employer and for facilitating the confiscation of passports. This final project responds to that social issue.

The work uses the passport itself as its central object — a small document that, in the wrong hands, becomes a leash. Imagery, type, and form all bend around that idea, asking the reader to look directly at the object that’s usually hidden in a desk drawer.

Project statement to be expanded by Mohammad — describe materials, scale, and the specific moment in the work you want viewers to sit with.