Open Space #19 Mohammad Alfaraj

As part of its Open Space programme, the Fondation Louis Vuitton invites Saudi artist Mohammad Alfaraj (1993, Saudi Arabia) to conceive an in situ work in gallery 8, for his first solo exhibition in a French institution.

A multidisciplinary artist, Mohammad Alfaraj lives and works from the Al Ahsa oasis, where he develops a practice that blends writing, video, photography, drawing, and sculpture.

Steeped in the oral traditions of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad Alfaraj draws inspiration from social practices, urban and rural architectures, as well as everyday life narratives to explore the relationships between humans and nature.

His works often take the form of poetic fables that question contemporary ecological, social, and cultural issues.

The exhibition I’d rather be a dragonfly than a lion brings together a collection of previously unseen video works within an installation composed of objects, photographs, and drawings.

Nourished by the collective imaginaries of his native country, his stop-motion animation videos give form to poetic narratives written and performed by the artist himself.

Working with a declared economy of means, Mohammad Alfaraj carries out the entire creative process — writing, shaping characters and sets, shooting, and animation.

Rooted in the cultural context of Al-Ahsa, these stories blend imagination, collective memory, and the relationship with living things, finding a universal echo far beyond their original context.