Mohamed Lekleti Taza, b. 1965

Born in Taza, Morocco, Mohamed Lekleti lives and works in Montpellier. He holds a DEUG in Cinema from the University of Montpellier and a master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of Aix-en-Provence. Lekleti weaves complex visual tapestries, merging drawing, collage, and textile to channel stories rooted in mythology, oral tradition, and personal experience. His work, reminiscent of One Thousand and One Nights, unfolds as visual palimpsests, where materials like carpet and paper become vessels for ancestral memory and cultural resilience. With an iconography that is both intimate and archetypal, Lekleti creates a space where narrative and material memory are deeply intertwined.

Lekleti is a significant figure in contemporary drawing, with numerous exhibitions to his name. His work has been presented at venues such as the Palazzo delle Belle Arti in Turin (2012), the Fortress of Salses (MNF) with Visa pour un territoire (2013), and the Blachère Foundation in Apt with Fuir (2017). He has also exhibited at the Paul Valéry Museum in Sète (Me suis-je égaré, 2018), the Art Center À Cent Mètres du Centre du Monde in Perpignan (Khamsa, 2019), and the Arab World Institute Museum (Dessins du Monde Arabe, 2021). In 2023, his work was featured at the MAC Lyon in Incarnations: The Body and at the Mohamed VI Museum in 110 ans, 110 œuvres.

Lekleti’s works are part of several prestigious public and private collections, including the Arab World Institute Museum (Paris), MAC Lyon, FRAC Picardie, CNAP, the Detroit Museum (USA), the Mohamed VI Museum (Rabat), the Société Générale Foundation, the Blachère Foundation, and the Kamel Lazaar Foundation (Tunisia/Switzerland), among others.