The Khatt Foundation is a cultural foundation dedicated to advancing Arabic typography and design in the Arab World and the Middle East. Building cross-cultural creative networks is seen as an important instrument to this end.

The Khatt Foundation has developed a network of design specialist working on research projects and programs that focus on contemporary design in the Middle East. It aims to bring awareness of the vital role that design can play in building a sustainable environment, through conferences, forums and publications. It strives to stimulate the creation of socially relevant products and artifacts that are designed and produced regionally to the highest professional standards.

Founded in 2004 in Amsterdam, the Khatt Foundation has since established itself as a platform for launching innovative design projects that address design needs in the region. Partnering with established institutions, it has turned the results of these projects into viable products. The Khatt Foundation has organized several successful events such as the 1st Kitabat Conference on Arabic Typography (2006, in collaboration with Linotype and the American University in Dubai); the Typographic Matchmaking Project (2005-2007 in Amsterdam ) and its offshoot events the Khatt Kufi & Kaffiya Symposium on Arabic Visual Culture | El Hema Exhibition (2007 in Amsterdam, in collaboration with Stichting Mediamatic); and the Project Mulsaq, design competition and exhibition (2008, in collaboration with Mosaiques and Traffic gallery, Dubai). In addition, The Khatt Foundation has established this online resource: the Khatt Online Community for Middle Eastern visual artists to serve the foundation’s educational objectives in forging networks of global designers, and providing information about various resources, projects, news and events regarding design and the visual arts in the region.

Our mission

— provide a platform for cultural dialog and promote better understanding between Western nations and the Arab World/Middle East,
— support the development of cultural projects that promote exchange of ideas, educate, and allow for cross-cultural collaboration in the broadest sense,
— establish a center for information about contemporary design in the Arab World/Middle East (as a resource for all interested across this region as well as internationally),
— create opportunities and networks for young Arab/Middle Eastern designers across national borders and political divides,
— bring cultural projects to a wider public and connect them to the design industries,
— and help in the development of the visual aspects of communication, specifically Arabic typographic design in the larger context of applied arts and visual communication.

Our activities

— Creating an 'Arab/Iranian' design community with a presence on the international design scene.
— Organizing workshops/seminars on Arabic typography and design in the Arab World/Middle East.
— Organizing conferences and exhibitions in collaboration with other European and/or Arab/Middle Eastern institutions on Arabic typography and design.
— Coordinating exchange programs between Europe and the Arab World/Middle East.
— Setting up design research projects that help revive and renovate design and crafts in the Arab World/Middle East in partnership with local industries and designers.
— Facilitating and assisting in research projects on typography and design.
— Providing information through a network of experts, about type technology and visual communication in the the Arab World/Middle East.
— Publishing books, catalogs, and articles about design and visual communication in the Arab World/Middle East.

Board members

—Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès (Designer & Writer. Founding Director of the Khatt Foundation).
—Willem Velthoven (New Media Designer. Mediamatic. Amsterdam).
—Prof. Dr. Jan Just Witkam (Professor of Codicology and Paleography of the Islamic World, Leiden University).
—Omar Saif Ghobash (UAE Ambassador to Russia, Businessman and Cultural Activist. Abu Dhabi-Moscow).

Advisory Board members

Rami Farook (Traffic Gallery- Furniture/Interiors).
Nada Debs (Furniture Designer/ Nada Debs).
Nadine Kanso (Jewelry Designer/Photographer).
Grace Yacoub (Cultural/Branding specialist).
Karl Bassil (Graphic Designer/Mind The Gap design studio, Arab Image Foundation)
Nathalie Fallaha (Graphic Designer/Vit-e design studio)
Bahia Shehab (Creative Director/MI7 design studio)
Gerard Hadders (Graphic Designer/Buro Plantage)