I’d rather be a dragonfly than a lion
October 9, 2026–January 18, 2027
As part of its Open Space program, the Fondation Louis Vuitton has invited artist Mohammad Alfaraj (b. 1993, Saudi Arabia) to create a site-specific work in Gallery 8, marking his first solo exhibition in a French institution.
A multidisciplinary artist, Mohammad Alfaraj develops a practice spanning writing, video, photography, drawing, and sculpture rooted in the Al-Ahsa oasis, where he lives and works. Drawing on its landscapes, inhabitants, architecture, myths and oral traditions, he explores the relationships between humans and nature through poetic narratives that engage with contemporary ecological, social, and cultural issues.
For I’d Rather Be a Dragonfly Than a Lion, Alfaraj has conceived an installation combining images of palm groves, desert landscapes and mountains with materials such as sand, wood and water. Together, these elements form a poetic world where reality and the fantastic merge. A photograph on the ceiling opens the perspective like a gaze lifted towards the sky from the bottom of a well.
Within this environment, five stop-motion films unfold in succession. Written, performed, shot and animated by the artist himself, each forms a self-contained tale, while the five come together like the fingers of a hand. Drawing on the collective imaginaries of his native country, they weave together imagination, memory and the living world.
The title refers to a local belief: the dragonfly, known in the local dialect as Abu Basheer, “the one who brings good news,” is said to herald good news when seen circling at sunset. By choosing this fragile creature over the lion, Alfaraj sets attentiveness and coexistence against power and domination, inviting us to reconsider our place among other forms of life and imagine different ways of inhabiting the world.
Curators: Claudia Buizza and Ludovic Delalande (Fondation Louis Vuitton).
The exhibition I’d rather be a dragonfly than a lion by Mohammad Alfaraj is presented in partnership with Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha (Qatar) which will present a solo exhibition by the artist in 2028.
Biography
Mohammad Alfaraj (1993, Saudi Arabia) earned a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in 2017. His work has been featured in various international solo and group exhibitions, notably at Delfina Foundation (2026); Desert X (2026); the Taipei Biennial (2025); DEO projects (2025); the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennial (2024); the Islamic Arts Biennial (2023); Noor Riyadh (2023 and 2022); the 16th Lyon Biennial (2022); Jameel Arts Centre (2022); 21,39 Jeddah Arts (2020); Athr Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (2020 and 2018); the Sharjah Islamic Festival (2019); the Sharjah Art Foundation (2019); Le Murate Pac, Florence, Italy (2019); 21,39 Jeddah Arts (2017 and 2019); Saudi Film Festival, Dammam, Saudi Arabia (2015), and the Dubai International Film Festival (2014).
Mohammad Alfaraj is represented by Mennour, Paris (France), and ATHR Gallery, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).
Open Space program
Open Space is a program dedicated to contemporary art, offering the possibility of a solo exhibition and the production of a new work.
