Dr. Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès

Dr. Huda AbiFares is the founding director of the Khatt Foundation. Born in Beirut and based in Amsterdam, she has lived and worked in the US, Europe and the Arab World since 1985. Author of Arabic Typography: a comprehensive sourcebook (2001), Experimental Arabic Type (2002), Typographic Matchmaking (2007), Typographic Matchmaking in the City (2010), and Arabic Type Design for Beginners (2013). She has contributed chapters to various academic books and trade magazines. She holds degrees in Middle Eastern Studies from Leiden University (PhD, 2017), and in Graphic Design from Yale University School of Art (MFA, 1990) and Rhode Island School of Design (BFA, 1987). She specializes in multilingual typographic research and design. She has taught and lectured on typography and graphic design in Beirut, Dubai, the Arab region, and internationally. She is member of AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale) since 2016. She currently supervises research of PhD candidates at Leiden University’s Arts Program and works as design curator, writer, designer and publisher.