Ali Cherri: Today is OK, an exhibition blending cinema and sculpture at the Palais de Tokyo

What if a soldier stepped down from his pedestal to confront us with our memories of war? That is the invitation extended by Today is OK, the new exhibition by Ali Cherri at the Palais de Tokyo, running from October 21, 2026 to February 14, 2027. The Franco-Lebanese artist and filmmaker brings together cinema, sculptures and installations to examine the effects of war on individuals. At the heart of the project, his film The Sentinel serves as the starting point for a journey that questions depictions of authority and heroism.

Unveiled at the Festival de Cannes 2026 and co-produced by the Palais de Tokyo, the film follows Lafleur, a French soldier navigating the course of a national holiday. Military duty weighs on him as his movements and nocturnal encounters blur the line between dream and reality. Nahuel Pérez Biscayart et Éric Cantona star in this work, where a bar-cabaret detour offers a window into the character’s everyday life.

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The exhibition extends these questions into space. Sets, sculptures and installations accompany the film and blur the lines between what seems real and what is staged. Ali Cherri focuses on the figure of the guard, the run-up to conflict, and how bodies endure the roles imposed on them.

A monumental sculpture inspired by military monuments sits at the heart of the exhibition route. The artist reuses this official vocabulary to reveal the vulnerability of soldiers. Curated by Hugo Vitrani, the project shifts from the collective image of the combatant to the cracks in an individual, his hesitations and his possibilities of escape.

What happens to a character when the role assigned to them no longer suffices? It’s from this perspective that Lafleur can be viewed, paying attention to what escapes discourse and the poses.

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