The UAE: 10,000 years of Adaptation, Technology and Social Cohesion

The lecture and discussion will explore the archaeology of the UAE from the Neolithic period, beginning around 10,000 years ago.

The speakers will consider how recent archaeological discoveries have highlighted the importance of technology and adaptation to a changing climate, and how the thoughtful use of technology has enabled the development of a unique and prosperous society. Speakers will also address the role of communication and iconography during the millennia for which there are no written epigraphic sources.

The discussion will be followed by a standing luncheon

Please register on the Warehouse421 site (click here)

Speakers:

Dr. Peter Magee, Head of Archeology, Department of Culture & Tourism, Abu Dhabi

Dr. Huda Smitshuijzen-AbiFarès, Founding Director of the Khatt Foundation

Dr. Peter Magee is Head of Archaeology and Palaeontology with the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi. He is the author of over 50 publications on Arabian prehistory, including The Archaeology of Prehistoric Arabia (Cambridge University Press, 2014). He has held academic positions in Australia, Belgium, and most recently in the USA, where he served as Chair and Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College (Philadelphia) from 2002 to 2019.

Dr. Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès is the Founding Director of the Khatt Foundation and Khatt Books publishers. Based in Amsterdam, her professional, cultural, and educational activities extend from the US and Europe to the Arab World. She holds degrees in design and design history from Leiden University (PhD, 2017), Yale University (MFA, 1990), and Rhode Island School of Design (BFA, 1987). She is a member of the select designers’ organization AGI (Aliance Typographique Internationale) since 2015. She specializes in multilingual typographic research and design, with a focus on Arabic design and typography. She is the author of Arabic Typography: a comprehensive sourcebook (2001), Experimental Arabic Type (2002), Typographic Matchmaking (2007), Typographic Matchmaking in the City, ed. (2011), Arabic Type Design for Beginners (2013), and Typographic Matchmaking in the Maghrib (forthcoming). She has published several articles in academic and professional journals. She has also contributed academic papers to books on typography and design in the Arab world, including “Arabic Typography: the Core of Contemporary Middle Eastern Visual Culture” in Arabesque, Graphic Design from the Arab World and Persia (2008), ed. Ben Wittner, Sacha Thoma, and Nicolas Bourquin, “Creative Contemporary Design in the Arab World” in Cultural Expression, Creativity and Innovation (2010), ed. Helmut K. Anheier & Yudhishthir Raj Isar, “Arabic Typography and the Shaping of a Modern Print Culture” in By the Pen and What They Write, Writing in Islamic Art and Culture (2017), ed. Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan Bloom, “Working Bi-Scriptual. Multiscriptual Typographic Design and Typesetting” in Bi-Scriptual: Typography and Graphic Design with Multiple Script System (2018), ed. Ben Wittner, Sacha Thoma, Tim Hartmann (2018). She has curated several design exhibitions, including “Letters Off the Page” in The Tradition of Future—The Future of Tradition (Haus Der Kunst, 2009), Nomadic Traces: Typographic Journeys (Dar Bellarj, Marrakech 2016-2017), RAMS: Contemporary Arab TypoGraphic Posters 2008–2018 (1971-Design Space, 2018), and Nomadic Traces: Journeys of Arabian Scripts (Warehouse421, 2019). She supervises PhD candidates at Leiden University’s Arts Program and works as a design curator, writer, designer, and publisher.