70 young design graduates pass out of Academy of Design

By Cheranka Mendis

Sri Lanka’s premier design school Academy of Design (AOD) on Wednesday reached yet another milestone in the institutions history with 70 young designers being honoured with the world renowned Northumbria University School of Design degrees here in Sri Lanka.

Northumbria University partnered with AoD in 2009 to offer the BA (Hons) degree offered by the University in Sri Lanka for the first time. Wednesday’s graduation batch was the first batch of students who received the degree.

Northumbria University, recognised as one of Europe’s top five design academia has offered the local students the same credentials and certifications offered in the University itself creating the same job opportunities as a design graduate in the UK. AOD is the only local campus offering this UK Design Degree in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka, which is at a decisive stage of development, has recognised the importance of ‘design’ to be a crucial value addition in the country’s growth path. As such the partnership between two leading institutes is seen as the first step towards achieving growth on the said level. Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education Dr. Sunil Navaratne stated that even though fashion designing has been part of Sri Lanka throughout history, what has not been done is to create and synergise knowledge and present a value added form, enhancing the worth of the products. “There should be a good synergising between knowledge and capabilities to take this forward. And this is what AOD has done,” Navaratne said. “The British has given us many things  — costumes, language, education system, tea, rubber etc. And now we have added to the list fashion and design.”

“Design is a unique industry for us. Where else do you see people designing clothes for elephants for the perahera?”

He stated that what is offered at the institution goes beyond theory to a more pragmatic, result oriented one — the kind the country needs to develop itself as a knowledge hub in Asia to become a holistic ‘wonder of Asia.’ Sri Lanka’s long term vision includes creating 100% globally employable students and to make it possible the country needs to start “creating knowledge rather than importing it.” The country needs to package the knowledge and export it, Navaratne said. “We learnt cricket from England, now we are better than them. Someday maybe we can be better than them in designing as well.” The country needs to add value to the designs as well as the raw materials exported. Navaratne stated that while Sri Lanka exports gems worth of USD 1000, making jewellery and adding value to the gems would make it possible to get USD 100,000 from the USD 1000 gem.

“Design is a unique industry — be it interior, exterior, digital or fashion, design is an industry where a person needs to think out of the box. We need to synergise our capabilities and sell back to the world. Human capital and knowledge is the key.”

He also asserted that with Sri Lanka being a cost effective place for education, the country needs to attract international universities to start branches here in Sri Lanka.

He stated that the growth of AOD is an evident one and that the institution will be able to market itself as a full-fledged university within three to five years.

Principal of AOD Karen Macleod whose first choice for design was Northumbria University and as a past student of the university stated that the university develops strong work ethics and creates a hunger to achieve the best. Macleod stated that her vision for AOD to become the number one in South Asia. “We will continue to develop our academic curriculum and strive to develop more programmes focused on Sri Lanka’s heritage and culture,” she said. AOD also hopes to have international students studying in the school and hopes to create future partnerships with the industry to better strengthen the school’s presence. “We will become ‘the’ academy everyone is talking about.

Valedictorian Marianne Gonnerathne speaking at the convocation stated that the day is an inspiration to industry success and that the academy has helped the graduates realise the dreams they had when they initially started. “We came as dreamers, we leave as designers,” Gonnerathne said, “We draw, build, walk and speak the language of shapes, textiles and colours. We have been moulded to inspire every single person we meet.” Claiming that the healthy competition going on in the classroom backed by the free rein the academy gave over design has made it possible for the students to find themselves she asserted, “Our creative sparks were given room to grow.”

Speaking at the convocation, founder and Managing Director of the AOD Linda Speldewinde said, “This is an achievement for our country and the higher education sector here. This is the first fully franchised international BA degree in design to be offered fully in Sri Lanka but it is not only a first for Sri Lanka but for South Asia.” Speldewinde also added that this convocation is a triumph for Sri Lankan youth too, as it marks their entrance in to the international design sector, equipped with qualifications in par with global standards.

Northumbria University School of Design Professor Steven Kyffin congratulated the Northumbria’s first group of graduates in South Asia. Professor Kyffin praised AOD’s standards in education and stated that AOD and Northumbria share a common approach to design education; “We believe that our role is to empower next generation designers to have a personal point of view and a strong voice. We constantly engage with the outside world so that students can learn from real word projects enabling them to translate personal talent into professional content.”

British Council Country Director for Sri Lanka Tony Reilly also at the event mentioned that the next milestone in AOD’s ambitious vision is to establish Sri Lanka as a genuinely world class design hub.

Pix by Upul Abayasekara