Reflections: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Villain Collection at the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation (BFAF) offers an intimate exploration of modern and contemporary Arab art through the eyes of collectors Fairouz and Jean-Paul Villain. Drawn from the couple’s private collection, the exhibition traces decades of artistic encounters across the Arab world and will remain open to the public until 31 May 2026.
Residents of the UAE for more than three decades, Fairouz and Jean-Paul Villain are recognised for their sustained support of artists and cultural initiatives in the region. Their collection began with early acquisitions connected to Syria and Lebanon before gradually expanding across the Arab world, reflecting both their travels and the friendships they cultivated with artists over the years. Thus, the exhibition speaks not only about artworks themselves, but also about the role collectors can play in shaping cultural ecosystems and preserving artistic legacies.
The show comprises three sections. The first one, The Levant and the Greater Arab World: Voices Between the Lines, centres on works connected to Syria and Lebanon. It reflects Fairouz Villain’s personal and cultural ties to the region. Here, existing side by side, figurative and abstract practices reveal the emotional and political complexity that has shaped modern Arab art throughout the twentieth century.
Among the presented artists are Paul Guiragossian (1926–1993) and Louay Kayyali (1934–1978). Guiragossian’s vivid paintings depict elongated human figures that evoke themes of motherhood, spirituality, exile, and labour, reflecting the artist’s experiences and observations. Kayyali, meanwhile, is famous for his gentle and poignant portraits of ordinary men, women, and children that capture the quiet dignity and struggles of everyday life.
Artworks by Helen Khal (1923–2009) and Etel Adnan (1925−2021) further enrich the section through lyrical abstraction and poetic explorations of landscape, colour, and memory. Together, these artists address themes such as war, solitude, migration, and intimacy, while also demonstrating the formal innovation that characterised Arab modernism during the postwar period.
The second section, North African Art: Forms of Continuity, examines how artists from North Africa reinterpret inherited visual traditions within modern and contemporary frameworks. The displayed works reveal how historical motifs, calligraphic gestures, and vernacular forms continue to evolve through experimentation and abstraction.
This section displays works by Adam Henein (1929–2020), whose sculptural language draws inspiration from ancient Egyptian forms while maintaining a distinctly modern sensibility, and Inji Aflatoun (1924–1989), whose expressive paintings merge personal emotion with political consciousness. Also featured are compositions by Mohamed Melehi (1936–2020), celebrated for his vibrant geometric abstractions influenced by Islamic ornamentation and modern design. By juxtaposing these practices, the exhibition highlights the ways artists negotiate continuity and transformation, balancing local histories with global artistic movements.
The final section, Emirati Art: This Place, This Feeling, focuses on the development of contemporary art in the UAE and reflects the Villains’ long-standing engagement with the local art scene. The presentation includes seminal figures who helped define conceptual and abstract art practices in the Emirates, such as Hassan Sharif, Hussein Sharif, Mohammed Kazem, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Najat Makki, and Abdul Qader Al Rais. Their artworks reveal the diversity of approaches that emerged in the UAE from the late twentieth century onward.
The exhibition also features younger artists such as Afra Al Dhaheri, who delves into themes of time, adaptation, fragility, loss, and memory through carefully considered material contrasts. Also on view are art pieces by Shaikha Al Mazrou and Zeinab Al Hashemi. Al Mazrou’s sculptural practice investigates ideas of tension, weight, and spatial balance, while Al Hashemi, who specialises in large-scale site-specific installations, reflects on the transformation of the UAE following the country’s construction and industrial booms.
The exhibition further includes works by Hashel Al Lamki, whose work examines the relationship between humanity and its environment, and Noor Al Suwaidi, who often employs abstract forms and vibrant colours to explore notions of divine chaos and the intersection between reality and dreams.
What distinguishes Reflections from a conventional survey exhibition is its emphasis on collecting as a deeply human act. The Villains describe their home in Abu Dhabi as a gathering place where artists, collectors, and friends came together through shared conversations about art and culture. This spirit of connection is embedded throughout the exhibition, which feels like a map of relationships, experiences, and encounters accumulated over time.
At the same time, the exhibition contributes to broader discussions about the importance of private collections in preserving and presenting Arab art histories. Many of the featured artists played pivotal roles in shaping modernism in the Middle East and North Africa, yet their work remains underrepresented in mainstream global art narratives. By bringing these works into a public institutional context, the BFAF provides audiences with an opportunity to engage with the cultural and intellectual depth of modern and contemporary Arab art.
Reflections: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Villain Collection is a portrait of a collection shaped by decades of curiosity, friendship, and commitment to the arts, while also serving as a broader meditation on the shared histories and artistic dialogues that connect different parts of the Arab world. The exhibition reveals how art can preserve memory, foster empathy, and create enduring cultural connections across generations and borders.
To learn more about Reflections, please visit the show’s official web page.
In addition, you might be interested in visiting Spectra of the Beautiful Past, Home Is Not A Place by Emilie Dubois, and Fellow Travellers.
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