Huda Totonji
{{short description|Saudi-born artist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Huda Ahmad Totonj
| birth_place = Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| education = George Mason University (BA, MFA), Art Institute of Washington
| occupation = Visual artist, graphic designer, calligrapher, educator
| known_for = Calligraphy
}}
Huda Ahmad Totonji{{Cite news|url=http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=56450&d=23&m=12&y=2004|title=Art Show Has Creativity as Its Hallmark|last=Ramkumar|first=K.S.|date=23 December 2004|work=Arab News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127050438/http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=56450&d=23&m=12&y=2004|archive-date=27 January 2010|access-date=20 May 2016}} is a Saudi-born visual artist, designer, and educator.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/talentbazaar/bio/huda_totonji/|title=Huda Totonji|website=WISE Muslim Women|access-date=20 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813050219/http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/talentbazaar/bio/huda_totonji/|archive-date=13 August 2016|url-status=dead}} Totonji is also a master calligrapher and is certified to teach Arabic Calligraphy. In addition to her calligraphic work, she also creates mixed media art, installations and performance art.{{Cite web|url=http://www.greenboxmuseum.com/sa-hudatotonja.html|title=Greenbox Dictionary of Saudi Arabian Artists|website=Greenbox Museum of Contemporary Art from Saudi Arabia|access-date=20 May 2016}} Totonji is the president of Huda Art, LLC, which creates custom art for clients.{{Cite web|url=http://projectkhalid.org/2012/07/dr-huda-totonji-to-teach-arabic-calligraphy-course-at-the-harvard-extension-school/|title=Dr. Huda Totonji to Teach Arabic Calligraphy Course at the Harvard Extension School|date=6 July 2012|website=Project Khalid|access-date=20 May 2016}} Totonji is also the first person from Saudi Arabia to lecture at Harvard University.{{Cite news|url=http://sofaraa.net/en/2013/03/saudi-instructor-at-harvard-organizes-art-show-2/|title=Saudi Instructor at Harvard Organizes Art Show|date=26 March 2013|work=Sofaraa|access-date=20 May 2016|archive-date=10 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910164927/http://sofaraa.net/en/2013/03/saudi-instructor-at-harvard-organizes-art-show-2/|url-status=dead}}
Biography
Totonji was born in Riyadh.{{Cite web|url=http://www.muslimmodernities.org/items/show/45|title=Huda Totonji|date=2010|website=Beyond Golden Age and Decline: The Legacy of Muslim Societies in Global Modernity, 1300-1900|access-date=20 May 2016}} She earned her bachelor's and master's of fine arts degrees from George Mason University. Totonji earned her Islamic Calligraphy Master's Certificate (Ijazah) in Jordan, and earned her PhD in fine art in Ireland. She studied Graphic Design at Art Institute of Washington.
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.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20190610184202/http://www.huda-art.com/artist_bio.htm/ Artist Biography]}} Retrieved on 7 Feb 2018
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".[http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=56450&d=23&m=12&y=2004 Art Show Has Creativity as Its Hallmark] Retrieved on 7 Feb 2018 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.[http://muslimmodernities.org/items/show/45/ Huda Totonji] Retrieved on 7 Feb 2018
Totonji's work has been featured in the PBS film, Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/muhammad/film_fullcredits.shtml|title=Full Credits|website=Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet|publisher=PBS|access-date=20 May 2016}} 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."{{Cite news|url=http://news.ibn.net/newsgen.asp?url=huda|title=Art Through a Muslim Women's Eyes|last=Chowdhury|first=Hasnain|date=30 September 2003|work=IBN|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008211735/http://news.ibn.net/newsgen.asp?url=huda|archive-date=8 October 2007|access-date=20 May 2016}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20030415015539/http://www.huda-art.com/ Official site]}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Totonji, Huda}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:21st-century women artists
Category:Academic staff of Dar Al-Hekma University
Category:Art Institute of Washington alumni
Category:Calligraphers of Arabic script
Category:George Mason University alumni
Category:Harvard Extension School faculty
Category:Saudi Arabian emigrants to the United States
Category:Saudi Arabian women artists
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