Most art schools open their doors to the public only once a year for a thesis exhibition, whereas the coursework that leads to the final product remains unseen. The Beaconhouse National University Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts & Design (BNU-SVAD) under the leadership of renowned visual artist Rashid Rana and the incredible team of its heads of department and faculty yet again took another unique initiative last year that continued this year too by holding the Open Day 2019 on January 13-15, 2019 which enabled audience to view the representation of all courses in an informal exhibition setting.
French Ambassador Dr Marc Baréty visited as a guest of honour on the occasion.
SVAD was established as the first school of BNU in 2003 and in the short period of only 15 years, its contribution in the world of art and design is nothing less than a quiet revolution. With its fresh and innovative student led approach and a curriculum that cuts across cultural and political boundaries, BNU-SVAD has got unique and distinct features that make it stand out from other art and design colleges in the region. It is the only art and design college in South Asia where students from all South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries come to study.
The Open Day exhibition took place in a very festive context of student and faculty performances and it was apparent that BNU-SVAD faculty and students not only believe in working hard in a very professional set up, but also know how to celebrate once all the work is over.
The exhibited works represented all courses from five undergraduate programmes in the area of Visual Arts, Textile, Fashion, Jewellery and Accessory Design and Visual Communication Design. BNU SVAD also has very unique graduate programmes; MA Art and Design Studies, MA Art Education.
The works on display explored all manner of mediums, be it painting, sculpture, video projection, prints, textiles, animations and mannequins adorning fashion work developed by students. Needless to say, the Mariam Dawood SVAD was a grand display of student work in and outside the studio spaces.
As viewers were going around the campus, students who had developed various performances conducted their activities in the SVAD courtyard. The performances comprised of poetry recitals, singing, skits, spoken word and even a rap performance in Punjabi. The faculty also performed and displayed a variety of vocal and instrumental talents. The second day had its own line-up of students conducting various performances. At the conclusion of the performances, each student who was nominated by their instructor to have done the best project for a course over the semester was awarded a special certificate by the dean Professor Rashid Rana.
The Open Day was conducted with the help of student led teams who assisted instructors in organising their class displays. The opening day was visited by admirers of art and design of all ages along with parents and friends of the students. Student groups visiting from schools such as Lahore Grammar School and Choueifat also took this chance to expose to the various disciplines of art and design.
Published in Daily Times, January 28th 2019.