The Founder

Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo’s unquantifiable contribution to the UAE’s national cultural sector was recognised by the late President H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2006. His Highness appointed her to the Board of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage (now Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi), on which she served until 2012.
Huda has received numerous awards for her dedication to the arts, education and women’s
development, including The Abu Dhabi Award and Abu Dhabi Medal (conferred by President H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan), the UN-affiliated Women Together Award, the Aspen Institute Emerging Voice Award for Cultural Stewardship, the Puccini Festival Foundation Award, an honorary doctorate from the American University of Paris, and the Middle East Institute’s Visionary Award, and many others.
Amongst the orders bestowed upon her are The Commander of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic
(Orden de Isabel la Católica), bestowed upon her by HRH Juan Carlos, former King of Spain, under the
order of HRH Philip IV, King of Spain; The Medal of Civil Merit of Spain; the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz); The Order of the Star of Italy with the rank of Grand Officer; The Commendatore dell’Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà of Italy; Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur of France; Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France; the Belgian Officer of the Order of the Crown, bestowed upon her by HRH Philippe, King of Belgium; The Gloria Artis Medal of Poland; the Order of the British Empire (OBE), bestowed upon her by the late Queen Elizabeth the Second; and the Medal of Honour from the Reina Sofia School of Music bestowed upon her by Queen Sofía of Spain.
She serves on the Middle East Institute’s Board of Governors and its International Advisory Committee, the Cleveland Clinic International Leadership Board, the Lang Lang International Music Foundation Board, the International Circle of the Reina Sofía College of Music’s board of directors, and the International Advisory Board of the Edinburgh International Festival. She is also a founding member of the American Ballet Theatre’s Global Council and sits on the National Advisory Board of Zayed University – College of Arts and Creative Enterprises.
An Emirati National, the daughter of a pioneering Saudi businessman and a Syrian mother, Huda was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Raised at a crossroads of cultures, her education took her to the American College of Paris, where she studied French literature and art history. Huda returned to the region and settled in Abu Dhabi. She is married to businessman and artist Mohamed Abdul Latif Kanoo, a member of the prominent Yusuf bin Ahmed Kanoo business family of the Kingdom of Bahrain, with whom she has three children, Abdul Latif, Noor and Abdul Rahman.

“Invest in the young. Create the future. Partner with the world.”

– Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo