Bassam Freiha Art Foundation will open its doors at Saadiyat Cultural District on 4 March.
The capital is the place to be circa now. In 2024 alone, Abu Dhabi is expected to welcome the world’s biggest artificial wave facility, an outpost of SushiSamba, and Mondrian’s very first location in the UAE. Even sooner on the roster, however, is something for art and culture enthusiasts as Bassam Freiha Art Foundation will open its doors on 4 March.
Located in Saadiyat Cultural District, the new foundation showcases Orientalist paintings, vintage photography, and modern and contemporary Arab artwork. The non-profit institution was founded by philanthropist and art collector His Excellency Bassam Freiha, and is the first and only private art foundation in the Cultural District. Cultural and educational initiatives aside, it will highlight rarely seen works drawn from private collections locally, regionally and internationally through its exhibition programme.
“I aim for the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation to become a flagship space inspiring other collectors to share their masterpieces with the public and contribute to the thriving cultural scene in the region,” says Freiha. “My collection reflects my personal journey, which was guided by the power of art to challenge prevailing narratives and its capacity to serve as a reflection of society. I hope the foundation will inspire the next generation of art patrons and foster a culture of patronage, a critical element in the arts ecosystem.”
In line with its mission to showcase exhibitions curated around highlights from private collections, Bassam Freiha Art Foundation’s inaugural exhibition, entitled Echoes of the Orient, will explore the historical dialogue between East and West through Orientalist works from Freiha’s private collection juxtaposed with 19th century photography and works by contemporary and modern Arab artists. In a reclamation of the Orientalist narrative, the exhibition will present works by the movement’s major figures — Rudolphe Ernst, Léon Comerre, Paul Leroy, Jan-Baptist Huysmans, and Fabio Fabbi included. They will feature alongside Arab modernists such as Habib Srour, Moustafa Faroukh, Cesar Gemayel, Tawfik Tarek, and Abdul Qader Al Rais.
Photography by Gabriel Lékégian, Jean Pascal Sébah, Tancrede Dumas, and Hippolyte Arnoux will also be on view. Curated by Michaela Watrelot, the show will highlight the theme of femininity and the interplay of reality and fantasy in Orientalist art. The foundation’s annex gallery, meanwhile, will host a parallel exhibition entitled Reclaiming Visions. Featuring photographic works by Sama Alshaibi from her Carry Over series (2019) and Azza Al Qubaisi’s sculptures that reinterpret the symbolism of the veil, it will explore the exoticisation of Arab women in Orientalist imagery and seek to reclaim their representation.
DSCVR: Bassam Freiha Art Foundation. Cultural District, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. @bassamfreihaartfoundation
