Beirut based design collective. Inspired by stories and weaving narratives to create a community with values in sustainability, creativity and freedom. BOKJA’s signature is its assemblage aesthetic, bringing together textile fragments of a time and place, situating them in unusual arrangements to communicate a unified message. The integrity of each piece is upheld as it is connected, layered and ultimately integrated and juxtaposed. It is through the juxtapositions of disparate surfaces that the importance of each component becomes magnified; a rich and unexpected visual language is created. ‘BOKJA’ is a regional word referring to a ‘bundle’ or the piece of fabric that is used to wrap the dowry of a bride. A familial tradition, a typical ‘bokja’ always bears the treatment of hand-embroidery from different female members of the family. BOKJA is a team of talented artisans and designers from over 10 countries, representing a diverse cluster of textile practices of the Arabian region. Brought together under a unique mission, this textile laboratory seeks to preserve a local craft tradition by redefining it in a contemporary voice.
Bokja Design
Textile and Crafts Designer | Beirut
Bokja Design. Image courtesy of the Designer
The Interview
What inspired you to pursue a career in design?
BOKJA was established in the year 2000 and founded by Huda Baroudi and Maria Hibri, Bokja was born from the female duo’s shared passion for furniture, textiles, art and design. While Huda has spent her life collecting fabrics from the Silk Road, Maria is an expert in antique pieces of furniture with a hidden beauty. The two married their expertise and knowledge of traditional craftsmanship and started Bokja by reupholstering vintage furniture found in antique stores and flea markets with precious fabrics from the region. Since its inception, Bokja has grown into a multi-level design studio building the story of Beirut’s numerous co-existing cultures through their famous assemblage aesthetic, establishing itself as a disruptive and innovative brand, breaking down barriers and weaving human connections.
How does your cultural or regional context influence your design work?
BOKJA was established in the year 2000 and founded by Huda Baroudi and Maria Hibri, Bokja was born from the female duo’s shared passion for furniture, textiles, art and design. While Huda has spent her life collecting fabrics from the Silk Road, Maria is an expert in antique pieces of furniture with a hidden beauty. The two married their expertise and knowledge of traditional craftsmanship and started Bokja by reupholstering vintage furniture found in antique stores and flea markets with precious fabrics from the region. Since its inception, Bokja has grown into a multi-level design studio building the story of Beirut’s numerous co-existing cultures through their famous assemblage aesthetic, establishing itself as a disruptive and innovative brand, breaking down barriers and weaving human connections.
What is your design philosophy or approach to creative problem-solving?
BOKJA is a message of diversity and tolerance, best exemplified through its assemblage aesthetic and the social causes it supports and communicates. As craftivist platform, Bokja aims to be an active participant in conversations related to ecological awareness and social injustice through its preferred medium: textile.
Describe a project you're most proud of and why it's meaningful to you.
The Arab Spring / Arab Fall Collection, which is a dual-panel textile installation that reflects on the shifting cultural and social dynamics of the Arab world. Created as a response to the Arab Spring uprisings, the work juxtaposes two visual narratives: one depicting the erosion of traditional values in the face of globalization and consumerism, and the other offering a hopeful vision of renewal and transformation. Through embroidered maps, layered imagery, and symbolic storytelling, the installation contrasts fast food chains and imported trends with scenes of revival, most notably a woman on horseback riding toward an unknown future. The piece explores themes of loss, resilience, and the search for new identity within a rapidly changing cultural landscape. Acquired by the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris in 2012, the work is emblematic of Bokja’s approach to design as a medium for socio-political critique and emotional storytelling. Fusing heritage textiles with contemporary questions, Arab Spring / Arab Fall stands as a tactile archive of collective memory and aspiration.
Who are your design influences or mentors, and how have they shaped your work?
We owe so much to those who came before us. And in return, we feel a responsibility to pass something on. That’s why every piece we make carries more than just aesthetic value—it carries a message. Whether it's about cultural preservation, craftsmanship, or simply the importance of storytelling in design, we want our work to invite reflection, connection, and care.
What role do you think design plays in shaping communities and culture in the MENASA region?
Our work challenges the boundaries between art and design, reimagining discarded materials to offer poetic commentary on memory, place, and identity. We were among the first to juxtapose the mundane with the intricate, creating rich contrasts that deepen the storytelling. We also play a vital role in contemporizing traditional embroidery, transforming it from heritage craft into an expressive, forward-looking medium.
How do you stay inspired and continue to evolve your creative practice?
Bokja has a very local touch and identity. Bokja operates out of Beirut, a city that echoes this complex language of assemblage. The country itself is positioned between old and new, east and west, bringing to the surface issues of identity and impermanence. Accordingly, behind Bokja’s surface fabrication is an underlying theme of identity; how it can be created and collected, how it can travel and adapt, and how it can ultimately be shared and communicated.
What are the biggest challenges facing designers in the MENASA region today?
The inability to plan: Within our lifetime, we’ve experienced certain events which forced a type of resilience in our society, shifting perceptions of what is appropriate and what isn’t. For example, for us in Lebanon, the wars created a sense of urgency, endorsing a nowness and a permissibility which made everything possible for us. It broke barriers and changed how the general population understood things, such as gender roles. We entered this field with a strong sense of curiosity and aesthetic; everything we know now we learned through practice and trial and error. We are happy to know that our story may be a source of inspiration for others, helping them imagine and go wild as to where and how they can see themselves in the future.
Works
Image courtesy of the designer.
Bokja Design in collaboration with Azza Fahmy. Image courtesy of the designer.