Mr. Anthony Bailey, GCSS,
Anthony Bailey was appointed by HRH Prince Khalid Al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Governor of Makkah Region, as Executive Chairman of Painting & Patronage and Special Counsel. He has held this position since its launch in London 1999 and is responsible for the day-to-day execution and direction of the initiative.
Anthony is active in promoting greater cultural, educational, inter-religious and trade ties between Europe and the Arab world. Between 2002-2010 he served as a HM Government Ministerial Task Force adviser on educational policy. Anthony also holds prominent positions with numerous charitable, inter-religious, educational, foreign affairs and European-Arab bilateral initiatives across the world. He is an adviser to the King Faisal Foundation and was a Director of the British-Saudi Society in London.
Anthony Bailey, an Irish national, graduated in 1991 from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (University College London) and also advanced his studies in Bulgaria at the St Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Turnovo and Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. He later continued his studies at Corvinus University of Budapest in Hungary. He was granted the Freedom of the City of London in 2004 and in 2010 was elected a Life Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and in 2021 was elected a Life Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Since 1999, Anthony has acted as a consultant to numerous other art and cultural programmes held in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. In addition to Painting & Patronage art exhibitions in London, others were hosted in Riyadh, Jeddah, Paris, Sintra, Rabat, Amman and Cairo. Additionally Anthony acted as consultant to other leading international efforts including the British Library’s ‘Sacred’ exhibition in 2007, Russia’s Red Square Invites musical festival in 1992.
In 2009 Anthony was appointed to the Board of the Waterford Museum of Treasures in Ireland. In 2012 he was appointed as Co-Chair of Portrait of Our Queen – a national schools competition to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
In 2009 was promoted to the rank of Knight Grand Cross of the Pontifical Order of Pope St Sylvester (GCSS) by decree of HH Pope Benedict XVI. Anthony has been further recognised for his contribution to furthering European-Arab bilateral relations by several foreign states including Jordan, Bulgaria, Colombia, Lebanon, Montenegro, Morocco, Portugal, Grenada, Slovakia, Hungary and Yemen.
Anthony has received the Medal of Merit and Cooperation from Luso-Arab Institute for Cooperation.
In 2012 Anthony was awarded the prestigious Sternberg Interfaith Gold Medallion for his inter-religious work.
Anthony Bailey resides in Portugal and regularly visits the Middle East.
To learn more about Anthony Bailey, please visit his website www.anthonybailey.org.