Is there a medium better than art to promote a soul-stirring message? We don’t think so. Dubai-based, Palestinian-born artist Janan Shihadeh has hit the right notes with her latest creation, a carpet called ‘Paradise Lost’, which honors the planet.

Created as part of a collaboration with luxury carpetmaker Iwan Maktabi, the beautifully handmade Persian carpet meditates on environmental changes, which indicate, according to Janan, that we’re about to lose our paradise, the place we all call home. A closer look at the carpet reveals melting birds and butterflies, and withering blooms, as a cry for help. It brings to light global crises, such as climate change, pollution and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“Paradise Lost, a collaboration I loved creating with Iwan Maktabi, is dedicated to Mother Nature and the urgent call to save the environment, and all of us on this precious planet of ours,” Janan wrote about the rug in an Instagram post. The wondrous work of multimedia art will be auctioned in either Lebanon or Dubai and the proceeds will go towards charity.

This is Janan’s first collaboration with Iwan Maktabi, a brand that often gives a nod to its rich Iranian-Lebanese roots. We hope there are more to come.