Huda Totonji

Huda Ahmad Totonji[1] is an American artist who was born and raised in Saudi Arabia.[2] Totonji is also a master calligrapher and is certified to teach Arabic Calligraphy.[2] In addition to her calligraphic work, she also creates mixed media art, installations and performance art.[3] Totonji is the president of Huda Art, LLC, which creates custom art for clients.[4] Totonji is also the first person from Saudi to lecture at Harvard University.[5]

Biography

Totonji was born in Riyadh.[6] She earned her bachelor's and master's of fine arts degrees from George Mason University.[6] Totonji earned her Islamic Calligraphy Master's Certificate (Ijazah) in Jordan and earned her PhD in fine art in Ireland.[6] She studied Graphic Design at the Art Institute of Washington. Huda Ahmad Totonji has been teaching a graphic design at Dar Al-Hekma College, Jeddah, KSA. She often lectures in universities in Washington Metropolitan area and others the likes of Georgetown University, George Washington University, Howard University, Montgomery College, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Kansas State University, Penn State University, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Texas A&M University, and in Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia and others.[7]

She has taken part in over 20 exhibitions worldwide and has a degree in visual information technology. Her paintings vary from portrait to landscape, from still life to calligraphy. She likes to mix things such as newspaper cuttings in her installations and performances. That is how she characterizes her painting, "the female vision is central to what she makes".[8] In 2009 Huda has taken part at the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow 2009 Conference in Doha, Qatar. She was elected among other 300 Muslim leaders from 75 countries to represent Muslim women there. [9]

Totonji's work has been featured in the PBS film, Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet.[10] The Islamic Broadcasting Network (IBN) wrote that Totonji brings "a sense of reality and humanity to the idea of Muslim woman [...] Huda's goal is to revolutionize the idea that Muslim women are limited."[11]

References
  1. Ramkumar, K.S. (23 December 2004). "Art Show Has Creativity as Its Hallmark". Arab News. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  2. "Huda Totonji". WISE Muslim Women. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  3. "Greenbox Dictionary of Saudi Arabian Artists". Greenbox Museum of Contemporary Art from Saudi Arabia. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  4. "Dr. Huda Totonji to Teach Arabic Calligraphy Course at the Harvard Extension School". Project Khalid. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  5. "Saudi Instructor at Harvard Organizes Art Show". Sofaraa. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  6. "Huda Totonji". Beyond Golden Age and Decline: The Legacy of Muslim Societies in Global Modernity, 1300-1900. 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  7. Artist Biography Retrieved on 7 Feb 2018
  8. Art Show Has Creativity as Its Hallmark Retrieved on 7 Feb 2018
  9. Huda Totonji Retrieved on 7 Feb 2018
  10. "Full Credits". Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet. PBS. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  11. Chowdhury, Hasnain (30 September 2003). "Art Through a Muslim Women's Eyes". IBN. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
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