Khalid al-Bahrani

Khalid has spent twenty years as the custodian of the island's modest rail line, a narrow lifeline for his community's pearl-diving economy. His work is punctuated by the rhythmic clatter of trains and the salty tang of the sea breeze, but it's the moments alone in his room—studying the subtle shifts of temperature and weight—that truly ground him. With sleep eluding him, Khalid's mind often drifts to the potential disasters of a single missed switch, his art becoming an evening ritual to quiet those worries.