Bassam Freiha Art Foundation (BFAF) is a non-profit institution established by philanthropist and art collector Bassam Said Freiha, who has collected works from the Orientalist art movement for over 50 years. The Foundation hosts exhibitions that feature works from his collection alongside showcasing the collections of regional and international patrons. The only private art foundation on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island Cultural District, free and open for everyone, BFAF is focused on showcasing global, regional and local art collections. It aims to support and nurture emerging talent, inspire dialogue, promote art education and public engagement with the arts through diverse and inclusive year-round programming.

His Excellency Bassam Said Freiha is a philanthropist and collector. His collection focuses on the Orientalist movement, and includes works by Rudolphe Ernst, Léon Comerre, Paul Leroy, Jan-Baptist Huysmans, Vincent Stiepevich, Georges Washington, Fabio Fabbi, Maguelonne Lefebvre-Glaize, and Marie-Antoinette Izart, among others. In 1976, Freiha co-founded the Mathaf gallery in London with his business partner, the late financier Brian MacDermot. The gallery was the first in the city dedicated to art from the Orientalist movement. A passionate collector, Freiha’s first acquisitions of pieces from the Orientalist movement include Prayers in the Mosque by Henry Livy, Saturday of Light in Jerusalem by Eugene Girardet, and The Carpet Seller by Charles Robertson.