[Fashion]

THE BEGINNING: AL BADIYA STUDIO EXPLORES MEDITERRANEAN IDENTITY

Marrakech-based Al Badiya Studio explores Mediterranean identity through documentaries and installations that bridge Moroccan roots with migration narratives.

image of Al Badiya Studio, a Marrakech-based creative agency founded by second-generation Italian immigrants. It describes their installation "Al Badiya 1.0," which features a rocky landscape with a central carpet, representing rural origins and cultural memory. The piece tells the story of Sita, a young woman from Côte d'Ivoire, whose migration experience parallels the founders' own cultural displacement. The article explains how Al Badiya Studio uses documentaries and editorials to explore Mediterranean identity beyond national borders, examining how migration shapes belonging and cultural heritage.
Al Badiya Studio
image of Al Badiya Studio, a Marrakech-based creative agency founded by second-generation Italian immigrants. It describes their installation "Al Badiya 1.0," which features a rocky landscape with a central carpet, representing rural origins and cultural memory. The piece tells the story of Sita, a young woman from Côte d'Ivoire, whose migration experience parallels the founders' own cultural displacement. The article explains how Al Badiya Studio uses documentaries and editorials to explore Mediterranean identity beyond national borders, examining how migration shapes belonging and cultural heritage.
Al Badiya Studio
image of Al Badiya Studio, a Marrakech-based creative agency founded by second-generation Italian immigrants. It describes their installation "Al Badiya 1.0," which features a rocky landscape with a central carpet, representing rural origins and cultural memory. The piece tells the story of Sita, a young woman from Côte d'Ivoire, whose migration experience parallels the founders' own cultural displacement. The article explains how Al Badiya Studio uses documentaries and editorials to explore Mediterranean identity beyond national borders, examining how migration shapes belonging and cultural heritage.
Al Badiya Studio
image of Al Badiya Studio, a Marrakech-based creative agency founded by second-generation Italian immigrants. It describes their installation "Al Badiya 1.0," which features a rocky landscape with a central carpet, representing rural origins and cultural memory. The piece tells the story of Sita, a young woman from Côte d'Ivoire, whose migration experience parallels the founders' own cultural displacement. The article explains how Al Badiya Studio uses documentaries and editorials to explore Mediterranean identity beyond national borders, examining how migration shapes belonging and cultural heritage.
Al Badiya Studio
image of Al Badiya Studio, a Marrakech-based creative agency founded by second-generation Italian immigrants. It describes their installation "Al Badiya 1.0," which features a rocky landscape with a central carpet, representing rural origins and cultural memory. The piece tells the story of Sita, a young woman from Côte d'Ivoire, whose migration experience parallels the founders' own cultural displacement. The article explains how Al Badiya Studio uses documentaries and editorials to explore Mediterranean identity beyond national borders, examining how migration shapes belonging and cultural heritage.
Al Badiya Studio
image of Al Badiya Studio, a Marrakech-based creative agency founded by second-generation Italian immigrants. It describes their installation "Al Badiya 1.0," which features a rocky landscape with a central carpet, representing rural origins and cultural memory. The piece tells the story of Sita, a young woman from Côte d'Ivoire, whose migration experience parallels the founders' own cultural displacement. The article explains how Al Badiya Studio uses documentaries and editorials to explore Mediterranean identity beyond national borders, examining how migration shapes belonging and cultural heritage.
Al Badiya Studio
image of Al Badiya Studio, a Marrakech-based creative agency founded by second-generation Italian immigrants. It describes their installation "Al Badiya 1.0," which features a rocky landscape with a central carpet, representing rural origins and cultural memory. The piece tells the story of Sita, a young woman from Côte d'Ivoire, whose migration experience parallels the founders' own cultural displacement. The article explains how Al Badiya Studio uses documentaries and editorials to explore Mediterranean identity beyond national borders, examining how migration shapes belonging and cultural heritage.
Al Badiya Studio

From the bustling streets of Marrakech, a creative agency is quietly reshaping narratives about Moroccan heritage. Al Badiya Studio, founded by second-generation immigrants raised in Italy, creates editorials and documentaries that explore Mediterranean identity beyond borders.

The name "Al Badiya" derives from the Arabic "lbidaya", meaning "the beginning", It also translates to "bled" (countryside), symbolizing ancestral lands and natural fertility. This dual meaning represents both a journey's start and a return to origins.

Their installation "Al Badiya 1.0" manifests these concepts through a rocky landscape centered around a carpet that serves multiple symbolic functions: warmth, protection, and memory. The work explores the tensions between rural and urban life, tradition and modernity.

Central to the installation is the story of Sita, a young woman from Côte d'Ivoire seeking opportunity abroad. Her experiences with displacement mirror those of the studio's founders, who navigate multiple cultural identities.

The studio approaches its work as cultural archaeology, excavating stories that connect rather than divide Mediterranean communities. Through visual storytelling, Al Badiya Studio examines how migration shapes identity and creates new forms of belonging.

"Al Badiya 1.0" functions as both personal narrative and broader commentary on contemporary migration patterns. By focusing on individual stories like Sita's, the studio humanizes complex social issues while acknowledging their own position between cultures.

As Mediterranean migration continues to shape European society, Al Badiya Studio offers perspectives that complicate simplistic narratives about identity and belonging. Their work suggests that cultural heritage can be both preserved and transformed through movement across borders.

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Production by Al Badiya Studio @al.badiya.studio
Photography by Francesco Corti @francesco.corti
Starring Model Sita @sisi_sita__
Producers Younes El Ouafiq & Salah Farhane @younes.elouafiq @sirzalah

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