As the Department of Art & Design stands ready to see off its 11th graduating batch of Bachelor of Design – the Department’s flagship program – we look on with pride to have our students of our two new programs joining the ranks and readying themselves to tread the path that their sister program has paved over the previous 14 years. This year, I find great joy to see our 1st graduating batch of Bachelor of Fine Arts presenting the fruits of their four long years of learning before they join the professional arts community, setting the precedent for all COMSATS University Islamabad’s arts graduates to come. Here at COMSATS University Islamabad, a space with multidisciplinary programs crossing the intersections of science, arts, and technology, we encourage in our students a mindset borne out of collaboration, to view arts not just as a skill and aesthetic as per traditional view, but rather, considering the rapidly evolving technologies in this day and age, to seek solutions that involve all techniques, combining mediums such as painting and printmaking, the historical art of miniature and Japanese mokuhanga with new media technologies of coding, IoT, and AI. This mindset can be seen reflected in the works of our 8 graduating students of Fine Arts, who through their works put forth questions regarding the self, the society, and the time we live in. Dabbling in varied specialisations, through their art, they form inquiries and think out of the bounds of comfort, to challenge preset notions. The Bachelor of Design students, on the other hand, provide solutions, utilising their art as a medium of communication, showing how design is an integral conduit in invoking change. Exploring mediums of illustration and film, animation and UX, the topics range over a varied spectrum, from utilising design to promote beautiful intricacies Hazara culture and lifestyle, a rich and ancient culture marred by popular media campaigns, to questioning the role of the individual consciousness in creativity, explored in the forms of graphic novels. Design is a medium of art than can aware, awaken and reform the consumer’s mindset, and I am proud to see our students creating and innovating to create a more cognisant and sensitised society, bringing forth new ideas year after year. This year is no exception, as can be seen through the works of our 20 talented individuals. With this said, I congratulate all the graduating students and am certain that the impact their works shall make in the community will have a wide reaching mark, continuing to set the pace of design in the twin cities. We take pride in the fact that our art aims to give back to the society, the very society that has nurtured us. It is only through collaboration and joint efforts, the unity between individuals, that can bring change. I would like to extend my thanks to our alumni, Ms. Iqra Mahmood, for once again being the lead designer who has helped shape the show with her iconic design – Binary. Through her concept image, she’s defined the essence of show, two streams, working side by side and drawing strength from one another.
Amna Hashmi Head of the Department, Faculty of Art & Design. COMSATS University Islamabad.