Bassam Freiha Art Foundation
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, established 2024
A private, non-profit art foundation with free entry in the Saadiyat Cultural District of Abu Dhabi.
On view nowPaul Guiragossian: 100 Years of Art17 October 2026 to 17 January 2027
About
Set up by the collector Bassam Said Freiha, the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation runs as a non-profit institution on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. It opened in March 2024 and presents itself as the single private art foundation within the Saadiyat Cultural District. Admission is free for every visitor.
Freiha has collected Orientalist painting for more than fifty years. The programme shows works from his holdings beside collections lent by regional and international patrons, and the site includes a sculpture garden. Freiha had earlier co-founded Mathaf, a London gallery for Orientalist art, in 1976.
The exhibition building, designed by Rasha Gebran of A.D.D. Consultants, is a glass pavilion raised above a reflecting pool, with an open-plan interior. Exhibitions are planned by the head curator, Dr Michaela Watrelot. The foundation runs lectures, talks, workshops and school visits, and its 2026 to 2027 season, From a Shared Ground, is devoted to Lebanese art.
Artists
No artists on Artmena are listed in Bassam Freiha Art Foundation's collection yet.
Exhibitions
Bassam Freiha Art Foundation
Paul Guiragossian: Paul Guiragossian: 100 Years of Art
Abu Dhabi, 17 October 2026 to 17 January 2027
Bassam Freiha Art Foundation
Alfred Basbous: Alfred Basbous: Sculpting the Line
Abu Dhabi, 17 October 2026 to 17 January 2027
Bassam Freiha Art Foundation
Lana Khayat, Etel Adnan, Helen Khal: Roots Before Petals: Lana Khayat in dialogue with Etel Adnan and Helen Khal
Abu Dhabi, 17 October 2026 to 17 January 2027
Visit
Address
Opening hours
Documents
This profile as a print-ready PDF, for press and exhibition files.
Do you run this space? Claim this page to edit it yourself.