• Mohammad Al Faraj, The Face of the City

    Mohammad Al Faraj, The Face of the City, 2023. Hayy Jameel center facade in Jeddah, drawn and painted with over 50 members of the Jeddah community. Courtesy of the artist and Art Jameel.

  • Mohammad Al Faraj, Islamic biennale opening performance

    Mohammad Al Faraj performing at the Islamic Biennale opening, blending poetry, theatricality, and rhythm using language and palm tree fronds as a form of prayer. Courtesy of the artist.

  • Mohammad Al Faraj, Fossils of knowledge series

    Mohammad Al Faraj, Fossils of Knowledge Series, 2019-on going, Misk art institute in Riyadh, AlSerkal foundation, Dubai, Athr gallery in Jeddah. Courtesy of the artist.

  • Mohammad Al Faraj, Fragmented Memory

    Mohammad Al Faraj, Fragmented Memory, 2019. Collage on paper series. Courtesy of the artist and ATHR Gallery.

  • Mohammad Al Faraj, The Whispers of Today Are Heard in the Garden of Tomorrow

    Mohammad Al Faraj, The Whispers of Today Are Heard in the Garden of Tomorrow, 2024. A multimedia installation featuring charcoal drawings, photos on fabric, and sculptures of dead new palms, serving as a monument to a life that hasn’t been lived. Courtesy of the artist.

Mohammad Al Faraj‘s (Saudi Arabia) practice is inventive, spiritual, and allegorical, brought to life through his poetic language. He uses various techniques, including video, sound, photography, installation, painting, and writing, adapting his creative process to each context. Often integrating found objects into his works, he breathes new life into them. As a storyteller, he navigates the space between traditional and contemporary, fiction and nonfiction, organic and inorganic. Growing up in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia, a palm tree oasis and oil source, and with a background in engineering, AlFaraj’s work is a cinematic collage of mediums, practices, and ideas.

During his second residency at Delfina, Mohammad will research and explore the performative aspects of daily life in the Gulf region, particularly in Saudi Arabia. He will investigate how these practices, from Al Daha, a war dance in northern Saudi Arabia, to Al Mizmar, an African dance in the Hijaz, and Al Aza, the poetic mourning of Muslim Shias in the east, serve as collective ways to experience, express and adapt.

Mohammad is represented by Athr gallery in Saudi Arabia, and Mennour gallery in Paris. His work has been shown at the Saudi film festival, Saudi art council, Sharjah art foundation, ArtJameel, and Lyon Biennale.

Mohammad was born in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia where he is still based.

WITH SUPPORT FROM: 

Saudi Visual Arts Commission

Artist’s website

Link

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Please note all artist-in-residence biographies are accurate at the time of their residency. For up-to-date bios please visit the artist’s website.