The Painting & Patronage initiative was established in Riyadh in 1999 as part of the King Faisal Foundation and is today one of the most prominent private cultural and educational exchange initiatives between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the international community. It was created by its founding patron and son of His late Majesty King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, HRH Prince Khalid Al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, the current Governor of Mecca, in partnership with the initiative’s founding chairman, HE Mr Anthony Bailey, OBE, KCSS.

In 2007 the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia granted his High Patronage over the Painting & Patronage initiative.

The principal aim and activity of the initiative is to build valuable bridges of cultural, artistic and educational understanding between the Arab world and the international community. Through doing so, the initiative aims to establish a higher and deeper level appreciation and understanding of each other's distinct and diverse cultures and traditions. Painting & Patronage also seeks to further economic and political ties between the participating countries of our programmes.

As an on-going private royal initiative, Painting & Patronage would like to initiate further cultural exchange programmes and are currently planning to broaden its activity within the coming years to include European, North and South American and Asian nations.

Text © 1999-2008 Painting & Patronage.