Sarah Al-Sarraj: NAR MARRATU

24 Jan-4 Apr 2026

Overview

In the near future rising sea levels submerge large swathes of the United Kingdom, a diminishing island cannibalised by its own violent borders and reclaimed by the waters it once ruled. Encroaching wetlands render the land unmappable and unknowable, edges become untraceable. London is a marsh once more. 

This creates an opening, an opportunity, optimal conditions for insurgency. Strategies of tecnopolitics, hydraulic engineering and weather manipulation create a new terrain to shift power. New structures of solidarity and knowledge transmission between the UK and the mesopotamian marshes allow groups to communicate through a water cycle: seizing the clouds, controlling the rain, and reappropriating oil pipelines.

ALL WATER IS FINITE AND CONNECTED.

The term Nar Marratu translates from ancient Assyrian to ‘Bitter River’ and was used in ancient Babylon to refer to the cosmic ocean, water encircling the world. In this speculative installation Sarah Al Sarraj presents a future historical document, a large-scale panorama, depicting newly formed, interconnected communities in wetlands in disparate geographies. Drawn in charcoal on canvas the work wraps around the walls of Eastside Projects’ second gallery, offering a glimpse into an imagined future world where climate crisis has allowed new configurations of power,  community and environmental stewardship to emerge.

Sarah’s show is this year’s EOP members project.