When Dr. Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès moved from Beirut to study in the United States, she found herself doing something she'd never had to do before: explaining her own visual culture to people who'd never seen it. That challenge changed everything. It sent her deep into the history of Arabic typography—how it grew from calligraphic tradition, was codified by ninth-century philologists in Baghdad, and is now being reimagined through algorithms and animation. And it gave her a lifelong mission: to show the world a side of SWANA creative culture that rarely makes it into the conversation.

In this episode, host Mai Habib sits down with Dr. Smitshuijzen AbiFarès to go behind the scenes of her exhibition Inner Structures, Outer Rhythms, explore what makes Arabic letterforms so uniquely expressive, and make the case that contemporary graphic design from the SWANA region is one of the most direct living continuations of Islamic artistic heritage.

*The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.*

Links & Resources:

• This was just one example of Muslim art that sparked curiosity and a great conversation. There is so much more to see at the Aga Khan Museum. Support the museum's vision to impact lives and contribute to more inclusive and peaceful societies. Go to agakhanmuseum.org to plan your visit or make a donation.
• Can't make it in person? Explore the 3D virtual tour of Inner Structures, Outer Rhythms from anywhere in the world.
• Check out more episodes in full video.

Key Moments

0:00 Introduction to This Being Human and the world of Arabic typography

1:20 Dr. Smitshuijzen AbiFarès' background and how studying abroad sparked her passion for typography

3:07 Defining typography, and how it differs from calligraphy and hand lettering

5:59 How the Arabic script connects cultures across the SWANA region and beyond

8:58 The Quran as connector: Arabic, Islam, and the preservation of a shared script

11:51 What makes Arabic letterforms uniquely readable across wildly different styles

13:36 Behind the scenes of Inner Structures, Outer Rhythms: vision, work, and journey

18:11 How the exhibition adapted to audiences in Qatar, Germany, and Toronto

21:10 Why sparking new conversations—not delivering answers—was the ultimate goal

27:55 The future of Arabic typography: algorithms, animation, and a script that endures

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some museums you visit. Others, you dream.

In this episode of This Being Human, host Mai Habib sits down with artist and filmmaker Ohida Khandakar to discuss her award-winning film Dream Your Museum. Ohida reflects on how her Uncle Selim Khandakar’s collection of over 12,000 ordinary—yet utterly extraordinary—objects, acquired over 50 years, became a living museum through imagination and storytelling.

From a mud house to the Victoria and Albert Museum, Dream Your Museum rethinks exhibition spaces, emphasizing dynamic engagement with culture and everyday life as their defining attributes.

Follow along as Ohida shares her experience navigating the arts as a Muslim Indian woman, the process of curating and documenting a museum that comes to life, and why you should dream about the impossible. She also offers up the essentials to dream your own museum: inspiration, creation, and human connection.

The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.

• This was just one example of Muslim art that sparked curiosity and a great conversation. There is so much more to see at the Aga Khan Museum. Support the Museum's vision to impact lives and contribute to more inclusive and peaceful societies. Go to agakhanmuseum.org to plan your visit or make a donation.
• Visit Ohida Khandakar’s portfolio to see her gallery and more of her artistic background.
• For more information on Dream Your Museum’s 2025 exhibition at the V&A, check out Jameel Prize: Moving Images.
• Read more about Jameel Prize winner Khandakar Ohida: ‘Personal stories open universal memories’.
• Check out more episodes in full video.

Key Moments

[0:10] Introduction to This Being Human and Ohida Khandakar’s short film Dream Your Museum

[1:18] Ohida Khandakar’s background in the arts and artistic interests

[1:54] Pursuing a career in visual art as a Muslim Indian woman

[5:59] From mud house to the moon: Dream Your Museum’s inspiration and creation

[13:00] Curating and caring for the traveling museum

[15:46] Collecting curiosities: how decades of artistic ritual became a museum

[19:59] Sharing the subtle joys of simple objects

[22:08] Living objects: the restorative power of imagination

[23:40] Redefining museum spaces: dreaming, creating, and transforming our surroundings

[26:40] Closing remarks on Dream Your Museum

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before the Aga Khan Museum became a landmark in Toronto, it started with a letter about light.

In this episode of This Being Human, host Mai Habib sits down with principal architect Gary Kamemoto, who led the Museum’s design alongside the late Fumihiko Maki. He shares how that single idea—light—shaped everything, from the building’s geometry and materials to the way you move through the space.

Along the way, you get a closer look at the thinking behind the Aga Khan Museum’s architecture, and how it draws on Islamic design and ideas of pluralism to create something that feels both timeless and distinctly contemporary.

Gary also gets into the details you’d likely miss on a first visit: patterns that shift with the sun, geometry hiding in plain sight, and a subtle architectural tribute woven into the building itself—details that, once you know they’re there, change how you see it.

*The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.*

Links & Resources:

• This was just one example of Muslim art that sparked curiosity and a great conversation. There is so much more to see at the Aga Khan Museum. Support the museum's vision to impact lives and contribute to more inclusive and peaceful societies. Go to agakhanmuseum.org to plan your visit or make a donation.
• Read more from Gary Kamemoto on the partnership between Maki and Associates and the AKDN
• Check out this episode in full video.

Key Moments

[0:10] Introduction to This Being Human and the Aga Khan Museum as an architectural masterpiece

[1:16] Gary Kamemoto on his background and navigating identity between cultures

[3:46] The origin story: from the Delegation Building to the museum project

[6:58] Working with His Highness the Aga Khan as a patron of architecture

[8:56] The “letter about light” as an unconventional design brief

[11:37] Reimagining the 17-acre site: why the garden—not the building—became central

[18:38] Pluralism as process: translating philosophy into physical space

[23:20] Designing for discovery: how the museum reveals itself over time

[27:42] Hidden details: symbolism, geometry, and the significance of the number seven

[31:18] Closing reflections on legacy, collaboration, and the museum’s ongoing life

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.