Bassam Freiha Art Foundation is honored to present Constructing the Orient: Fragments of a Western Dream, an exhibition that explores how Western artists of the 19th and early 20th centuries imagined and constructed the “Orient.” Rather than documenting reality, these artists wove together fragments of observation, memory, and fantasy to create a dreamlike vision of the East—one that continues to shape perceptions today.
Organized into five thematic sections, the exhibition unpacks recurring Orientalist motifs. The Secluded World examines interiors, harems, and private spaces, while The Public Stage turns to marketplaces, street life, and performances. Spectacle of Seduction considers the allure of the dancer and the musician, and Archetypes of Women reflects on figures such as the mother, the muse, and the odalisque. Finally, Archetypes of Men presents the Bedouin, the scholar, and the warrior as central images of the Western imagination.
By placing these works within a critical framework, Constructing the Orient invites viewers to look beyond the surface beauty of the paintings and to question the cultural narratives embedded within them.
The exhibition brings together works from the private collection of His Excellency Bassam Said Freiha alongside significant loans from the Mathias Ary Jan Gallery, offering a rare opportunity to reconsider Orientalist art through both historical and contemporary lenses.
