AOD takes its global design approach to Maldives

• AOD exerts its role as an influencer in regional creative industries’ development, forming strategic partnership in Maldives to drive design-led social impact

As Asian economies gather global influence, South Asia is a region gaining new momentum. This is as a subcontinent with incredible potential to derive high value products from its rich cultures and histories – one that directly answers global market demands for new consumable stories with deeper meaning and fresh creativity. 

To unlock this potential, South Asia has to harness its creative talent through the right education, global exposure and opportunities. A progressive voice that has been channelling this thinking within the region for the past decade is the Sri Lankan design academy, AOD. 

As an unusual educator that operates well beyond its expected realm, AOD has been working in collaboration with industries, major businesses and governments in the region to power up South Asian creative talent to have commercial relevance. As the latest development of this work, AOD has announced its focus on Maldives, forming a strategic partnership with the prestigious MI College institute in Malé. 

The partnership will see AOD directly educating young Maldivians, sharing its widely acclaimed international design approach with them and extending new opportunities to contribute to South Asia’s emerging creative economy. This is also the first instance where Sri Lanka’s own contemporary approach to design education is taken beyond the island shores, adding to the country’s growing reputation as a regional leader in creative thinking and innovation. AOD will now begin recruiting Maldivian students for higher education in design within their own home shores, while helping them create a new creative culture within their nation.

AOD has been championing the South Asian voice of contemporary fashion and design within global creative circles for years now, taking regional talent to international platforms like London Fashion Week International Fashion Showcase, Graduate Fashion Week UK, ISTD award, Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia, etc. Simultaneously, AOD has been creating platforms within South Asia for local and international influencers in fashion and design to gather, network, discuss and ideate the future of regional creativity and related businesses. South Asian Apparel Leadership Forum, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Design Festival, the Sustainable Fashion Symposium, and Design Katha conference series are a few examples. 

Beyond this, AOD has also played its role in linking regional talent to new opportunities to grow as entrepreneurs. For example, AOD facilitated young Maldivian talent such as Raidha Ismail Shafeeg to successfully collaborate with the Lankan online shopping portal www.fashionmarket.lk, and take her fashion brand beyond home shores. Raidha went on to get recognised by ‘The Women on Boards’ (WOB) and awarded the ‘WOB Distinction and Award for Best Young Woman Professional 2016’, demonstrating how providing the right opportunities and encouragement to regional talent can play out. 

Another is the interior designer Sawsan Ahmed, who went on to win the Maldivian National Award for her outstanding work from the President of the country at the time. Also a noteworthy name, Maanih Mohamed, who studied visual communication design at AOD and won the ‘Women’ poster competition open award. 

With such projects, platforms and success stories of young Maldivian designers, AOD has already played a role in pushing Maldivian creativity forward; it is with this connection that AOD has been invited to formally drive design education in Maldives.

AOD’s partner institute in the Maldives is MI College — a like-minded educator looking to empower young Maldivians with the knowledge and professional skills they need to take on tomorrow. Both MI and AOD are of the view that education is all about encouraging people to think, innovate, and act consciously and responsibly. 

“AOD was built on the thinking that design is at the core of what drives the economy today — which is innovation. By giving young people access to that kind of thinking, training and professional tools to work as designers, we’re not only changing their lives, but also driving a positive impact across our economy. And, MI embraces a very similar view about creating professionals, and understanding the enormous significance of this process of education. So, it’s fantastic to be working together with them,” said AOD Managing Director Lin Gong-Deutschmann. 

The academies will join forces to have the recruitments and student management in Maldives driven by MI College and the global design curriculum, exposure and teaching driven by AOD. 

She further stated that AOD believes in nurturing the Maldivian creative talent as an important part of the work to establish a powerful South Asian creative economy that will benefit the entire region. 

“We know that building the kind of creative economy that Maldives can be proud of is also building the regional creative economy which we are all part of. What we’re doing here in Maldives is laying the foundation for that by creating the kind of design professionals who can generate business with consumers all over the world, opening up amazing new opportunities for Maldives. It boils down to driving the economic potential of creativity — the purpose at the heart of AOD,” she added. 

For more information on AOD and its activities in Maldives, call 011 5867 772/3, email [email protected] or log on to www.aod.lk