Huda Smithuijzen Abi Farès
Huda Smithuijzen Abifarès is a researcher, author, graphic designer, a typographer and a curator. She holds a degree in graphic design from Yale University School of Art and Rhode Island School of Design, and specializes in bilingual typographic research and design. In 2017 she completed her PhD in Middle Eastern Studies at Leiden University. In 2004 she founded the Khatt Foundation. The arabic word Khatt unfolds several layers of knowledge around calligraphy; It represents words, letters, constructions, designs and it also implies research. While the western typography is based on a fixed structure, almost impossible to be manipulated, the arabic fonts are closer to calligraphy. Through the platform, she intends to connect the new generation of designers to their cultural heritage while building creative cross-cultural networks between the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.
In 2008, in an interview for Nafas art magazine, she expressed: “I realized that we needed to look at our heritage, but not copy it: just extract what works and add new life and new techniques that relate to the contemporary realities of today’s Arab societies- which tend to have traits that transcend national boundaries and others that highlight these national differences between various Arab nations- adding to the richness of the Arab and Middle Eastern visual culture.”
Smithuijzen Abifarès hosted the third edition of the Khatt Foundation symposium on their multi-script typographic research project in the Framer Framed exhibition space on September 10, 2016. Originally from Beirut, she lives and works in Amsterdam.
- Khatt Foundation