• Alfred Basbous: Sculpting the Line

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    A selection of work by a pioneering figure of modern sculpture in Lebanon, presented in collaboration with the Alfred Basbous Foundation. Basbous worked across stone, marble, wood and bronze, responding closely to the particular qualities of each material rather than [... more]

    Free
  • Roots Before Petals

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    An exhibition that brings contemporary UAE-based artist Lana Khayat into dialogue with Lebanese modernists Etel Adnan and Helen Khal, linking distinct practices across generations of Lebanese artists. Says the gallery: "Their work differs in scale and sensibility, yet each built [... more]

    Free
  • 100 Years of Paul Guiragossian

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    A landmark retrospective for one of the key modernist painters to emerge from the Levant in the twentieth century. Alongside significant works drawn primarily from the artist’s estate, many travelling outside Lebanon for the very first time, the exhibition – [... more]

    Free
  • The Story of Art: A Story with an Open End – Contemporary Art

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation's monthly lecture series, led by Dr Michaela Watrelot, BFAF Curator and Director of Exhibitions, continues with an exploration of the diversity of artistic practices that have shaped art since 1970, reflecting a period in which artists [... more]

    Free, but pre-register
  • CLOSING TODAY Constructing the Orient: Fragments of a Western Dream

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    Drawn from the private collection of Bassam Said Freiha plus key loans from the Ary Jan Gallery, this exhibition of Orientalist works  unfolds across five thematic sections, each focusing on a central motif within Orientalist visual language and examining how [... more]

    Free
  • Behind the Scenes of Museums: From Conservation to Communication

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    A lecture by Elsie El Deek Bou Jaoude, art historian and Director of the USEK Archaeological Museum, that promises “a rare glimpse into the unseen work of museums, exploring how conservation, research, and collaboration shape collections beyond what is visible to [... more]

    Free, but pre-register
  • The Story of Art: What Is Art Anyway? Abstract Expressionism & Pop Art

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation's monthly lecture series, led by Dr Michaela Watrelot, BFAF Curator and Director of Exhibitions, continues with that moment in the twentieth century when artists began to radically challenge traditional ideas of art, authorship, and meaning. In the [... more]

    Free, but pre-register
  • The Story of Art: On the Path to Modern Art – Post-Impressionism

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation's monthly lecture series, led by Dr Michaela Watrelot, BFAF Curator and Director of Exhibitions, continues with a search for deeper structure, symbolism, and emotional intensity that laid the foundations for modern art. The focus is on [... more]

    Free, but pre-register
  • The Story of Art: Impressionism – The Power of Light

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation continues its monthly lecture series led by Dr Michaela Watrelot, BFAF Curator and Director of Exhibitions. This time the focus is on one of the most transformative movements in modern art, using works of Monet, Renoir, Degas, [... more]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Reflections: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Villain Collection

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    Modern and contemporary works from Syria, Lebanon, North Africa, and the UAE selected from the impressive private collection of Fairouz and Jean-Paul Villain – a pair of collectors for whom the acquisition of works has been a way of engaging [... more]

    Free
  • Émilie Dubois: Home Is Not a Place

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    Inspired by the experience of living and working alongside people from across the globe in the UAE, this exhibition by the UAE-based Guatemalan artist on a theme that will resonate with many expats – where actually is 'home'?  It features [... more]

    Free
  • CLOSING TODAY Al Burda Exhibition: The Shape of Meaning

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    In response to the Nja Mahdaoui retrospective in the main gallery at BFAF, this exhibition presents loans from the Ministry of Culture’s Al Burda exhibitions from 2008 to 2023. Al Burda was/is an annual exhibition where contemporary artists engage with [... more]

    Free
  • CLOSING TODAY Nja Mahdaoui: the Choreographer of Letters

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    This focused retrospective surveys over six decades of practice by the Tunisian multimedia artist Nja Mahdaoui, an influential figures in Arab modern art who repurposed Arabic calligraphy into a visual and abstract contemporary art form. This show, o-curated by Michaela [... more]

  • The Story of Art: The Age of Reason and Revolution – From Academic to Realism

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation continues its monthly lecture series led by Dr Michaela Watrelot, BFAF Curator and Director of Exhibitions. This time it explores a pivotal moment in art history shaped by political upheaval, intellectual transformation, and shifting social ideals [... more]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Calligraphy Workshop

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    A hands-on introduction for beginners and curious learners: the workshop introduces traditional scaling and measurement techniques, offering a clear and accessible entry point into the art of calligraphy. Participants will explore the fundamentals of Arabic calligraphy, learning basic strokes, proportions, [... more]

    Free, but pre-register
  • The Story of Art Lecture: It’s All in the Details – the Dutch Golden Age

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation continues its monthly lecture series led by Dr Michaela Watrelot, BFAF Curator and Director of Exhibitions. This it's the artistic flourishing of 17th-century Netherlands, where prosperity and everyday life found new visual meaning – think Rembrandt’s [... more]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Al Burda Exhibition: The Shape of Meaning

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    As a complement to the Nja Mahdaoui retrospective in the main gallery at BFAF, this exhibition presents loans from the Ministry of Culture’s Al Burda exhibitions from 2008 to 2023. Al Burda was an annual exhibition where contemporary artists engaged [... more]

    Free
  • CLOSING TODAY Nat Bowen: Chromology

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    Known for works of glossy, abstract resin poured on to acrylic, Bowen creates luminous, aqueous fields that transform colour into a language of emotion and presence. With this show, says the gallery, "viewers are invited into an intimate space of [... more]

    Free
  • Constructing the Orient: Fragments of a Western Dream

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    Drawn from the private collection of Bassam Said Freiha plus key loans from the Ary Jan Gallery, this exhibition of Orientalist works  unfolds across five thematic sections, each focusing on a central motif within Orientalist visual language and examining how [... more]

    Free
  • Nja Mahdaoui: the Choreographer of Letters

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    This focused retrospective surveys over six decades of practice by the Tunisian multimedia artist Nja Mahdaoui, an influential figures in Arab modern art who repurposed Arabic calligraphy into a visual and abstract contemporary art form. This show, o-curated by Michaela [... more]