The American University in Dubai, hosted a multi-faceted event where Professor Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFares presented her latest project and book ‘Typographic Matchmaking' and her non-profit cultural foundation, the Khatt Foundation, in a lecture on the importance of Arabic typography and design to contemporary Arab culture, and to cultural exchange between Western and Middle Eastern societies.

The lecture was followed by a book-signing event and an exhibition of the fonts and designs produced in this unique ‘Typographic Matchmaking' design project. To mark its official launch for the first time in the UAE, the first copy of the book was presented to Dr. Muhammed Al-Murr, Chairman of the Dubai Cultural Council, who also officially opened the exhibition. Dr. Lance de Masi opened the event with a heart-warming introduction on the pursuit of academic and pragmatic excellence in the work of Professor AbiFares and what such work means to the academic and professional circles in the region. The event was well attended by over 200 people, including a majority of students and faculty from the American University in Dubai , the Zayed University , and the American University of Sharjah, along with professionals in the fields of design and visual communication in the UAE.

About the ‘Typographic Matchmaking' project and book:

The Khatt Foundations' collaborative pilot design project ‘Typographic Matchmaking' and its resulting book was spearheaded and coordinated by Professor Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFares. Five design teams consisting of internationally renowned Dutch and Arab designers collaborated over a period of two years in order to design five new Arabic fonts that match a selected range of the Dutch designers' fonts. The participating Dutch and Arab designers were as follows: Fred Smeijers and Lara Assouad-Khoury, Martin Majoor and Pascal Zoghbi, Peter Bilak and Tarek Atrissi, Lucas de Groot and Mouneer Al-Shaarani, Gerard Unger and Nadine Chahine.

The book, ‘Typographic Matchmaking: building cultural bridges with type design', presents a documentation of the collaborative Arabic type design project described above. It provides insight into the design process of Arabic fonts with a concise overview of the aesthetic and technical aspects. The book provides more than lasting lessons in Arabic type design and offers the Arab ‘design community' a set of fresh Arabic fonts (included on the CD in the book) that in richness and refinement meet international quality standards and are ideal for bilingual design and communication in the Arab world of today. The book will be available for sale at the venue at market price of 150AED.

About Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès:

Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès, was born in Beirut in 1965. Author of ‘Arabic Typography: a comprehensive sourcebook' (Saqi Books, London , 2001), ‘Experimental Arabic Type' (Saatchi & Saatchi, Dubai , 2002), ‘Typographic Matchmaking' (BIS Publishers, Amsterdam 2007), and a number of articles on multilingual communication in the Middle East . She holds degrees in graphic design from Yale University School of Art and Rhode Island School of Design, and specializes in bilingual typographic research and design. She has worked as a designer for a number of years, in the US , Amsterdam , France and Beirut . She has taught typography and graphic design at the American University of Beirut . She was the Chair of the Visual Communication Department for three years at the American University in Dubai and founder of the Khatt Foundation, Center for Arabic Typography ( Amsterdam ). She is currently pursuing a PhD at Leiden University while still teaching in Dubai.

About the Khatt Foundation ( www.khtt.net <http://www.khtt.net> ):

The Khatt Foundation is a non-profit cultural foundation dedicated to research and to cultural activities between Europe and the Arab World. Its main goal is to provide a platform for cultural dialogue between the Western nations and Arab world, in the hope that this will lead to a better understanding and to mending negative misconceptions. The Khatt Foundation supports the development of cultural projects that promote exchange of ideas, educate, and allow for collaboration in the broadest sense. The main stress is on the visual aspects of communication, specifically Arabic and Latin typographic design.


Activities include:

— Creating a 'virtual' design community for Arab designers with a presence on the international design       scene.

— Organizing workshops and seminars on Arabic typography and design.

— Organizing conferences and exhibitions in collaboration with other European and/or Arab institutions, on       Arabic typography and design.

— Coordinating exchange programs between Europe and the Arab World.

— Facilitating and assisting in research projects on typography and design.

— Providing a source of information, through a network of experts, about type technology and visual       communication in the Arab World.

— Publishing books, catalogues, and articles about Arabic typography and design.