To conclude the successful exhibition Arabic Graphics - The Work of Tarek Atrissi , on Sunday evening October 26th at 20:00 hours, Platform De Levante presents:
An Evening of Arabic Typography
Brief presentations by Thomas Milo, Tarek Atrissi, preceded a general introduction of the topic by Titus Nemeth, all active in Arabic typography. They will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Titus Nemeth to shed light upon the art of printing Arabic from different perspectives. Tarek Atrissi designs new Arabic typography taking Dutch culture into the balance. Thomas Milo stands in a centuries old Dutch tradition of academic high-quality Arabic typography and creates innovative technology taking Arabic script culture into the balance. How do these different perspectives relate to one another?
Amsterdam-born Thomas Milo is an independent scholar, typographer and inventor. Tom was guest lecturer among others at Cooper Union in New York, The Agha Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT in Cambridge, MA, USA, the Dept. of Typography and Graphic Communication of Reading University, UK, Graphic Design Department at VCUQ, Doha, Qatar and recently in the Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman. With his DecoType team he pioneered smart font technology in the early 1980's, a concept later adopted by Microsoft and Adobe and now a key feature of every day's computer typography. In 1985 he incorporated DecoType together with his partners Mirjam Somers and Peter Somers. DecoType's approach to Arabic computer technology is based on exhaustive analysis of the structure of pre-typographic Arabic script. For Brill, Leiden's renowned academic publishers, DecoType produced in 1989 the first ever computer-typeset Persian and English dictionary. The latest resulting product, WinSoft's Tasmeem, is a platform for sophisticated, both traditional and contemporary, typographic designs. This year Brill has resumed its 325 years old tradition of Arabo-Dutch typography by adapting Tasmeem for its Arabic texts. Recently the government of Oman commissioned DecoType to typeset the Koran, the icon of Arabic script culture, as both a beautiful and a searchable text for the internet, using Tasmeem.
Beirut-born Tarek Atrissi, now based in Holland, has gained a worldwide reputation for his cross-cultural design work, which has been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum New York and is part of the permanent Design Collection of the Dutch Poster Museum in the Netherlands. His awards include among others the Type Directors Club's, The Dutch Design award and Adobe Design Achievement awards. He is the founder of www.arabictypography.com, the online communication platform for Arabic Type. Tarek speaks regularly at international Design conferences, events and universities worldwide. He has designed the visual identity for the country of Qatar, and his clients include MTV Arabia, BBC, Al-Ghad Newspaper in Jordan, and many other clients interested in a contemporary approach to Arabic design and typography. He is the co-author of "Visual Narratives from Arabia" published by UNESCO in 2008. During the logo (shop) exhibition El Hema, Tarek Atrissi designed the Arabic logo version of El Hema, and designed with Peter Bilak one of the five new Arabic fonts introduced in the project. Trying to connect Arabic fonts to Dutch culture, the HEMA was the chosen Dutch icon. Separately, he has designed several Arabic fonts widely in use in the Arab world.
Vienna-born Titus Nemeth graduated in 2006 with a distinction from the Master of Arts Typeface Design programme at the Department of Typography and Visual Communication, University of Reading. He specialises in multi-script typeface design with an emphasis on the Arabic script. His master thesis researched the current state of Arabic newspaper type and typography and found acclaim by experts in the field. He is currently pursuing further research on the Arabic script at the École Supérier d'Art et de Design d'Amiens, France. Besides his academic endeavours he continues his work as freelance designer and consultant.
At River-Valley.tv you can watch a recording of the presentations of the evening. This registration has been made possible by River Valley.
Date October 26, 2008
Time start 20:00 hours, doors open 19:30 hour
Entance free, donations are welcomed
Language English
Location Platform De Levante