Dr. Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès is the Founding Director of the Khatt Foundation and Khatt Books, both based in Amsterdam. An independent design curator, researcher, writer, and publisher, she holds a PhD from Leiden University (2017), an MFA from Yale University (1990), and a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design (1987). She specialises in typographic design research and Arab design history, and is the author of several seminal books on the subject, including two titles in Khatt Books’ Arabic Design Library series, of which she serves as Editor in Chief. In the world of typography, Huda is celebrated for her Typographic Matchmaking projects, which brought together renowned Dutch and Arab type designers to create some of the first successful multiscript type families. Since then, Huda has continued to promote design and typography from South-West Asia and North Africa, through initiatives such as Khatt Books and the Khatt Chronicles Podcast, which highlight (female) designers from the region.
Founded in Amsterdam in 2004, the Khatt Foundation is a non-profit institution promoting contemporary graphic design, serving as a platform for designers from South-West Asia and North Africa, and initiating cross-cultural collaborative typographic research projects. Its publishing arm, Khatt Books (est. 2010), focuses on typography, graphic design, architecture, and visual arts from the SWANA region. Committed to bilingual Arabic–English publishing and innovative typographic solutions, Khatt Books works to preserve Arab design history and elevate the standard of contemporary Arab visual culture.