They may have all studied under the same roof but they are all different artists, argue the 78 students who graduated at the Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture (IVSAA) on Saturday.
The convocation for the batch of 2011 was held at the campus. After the faculty proceeded in, the students, dressed in green-and-golden robes and caps with white outfits, took their seats on the right side of the stage. The students who are still studying also attended, in white outfits with waistcoats.
Many students were surprised by their families as they showed up with gifts, flowers and balloons. Parents, grandparents and siblings were all dressed formally for the occasion, but not without showing off their own little creativity even if it were just in their fashion sense.
As soon as Registrar Rashid Raza announced that the ceremony was over, the families, who were sitting calmly so far, stood up to laugh, hoot, cheer, or sob for their loved ones.
“When I look back at the last four years, I can’t tell how time passed,” said Shehab Khan, while trying hard to control his emotions. “My daughter finally accomplished a milestone today.” Maria Khan, his daughter, graduated in textile design with 22 others.
Another proud parent, Ajmal Ansari, stood next to Khan in a black three-piece suit. But unlike Khan he preferred to appear composed. His daughter, Asma, graduated in fine arts and was now looking to exhibit her work. “One down, three more to go,” Ansari quipped, referring to his younger children. “IVSAA has come a long way,” said Ansari. “The school has improved quite a lot from what it was around 10 years back.”
Sobia Majid majored in textile designing and hoped to land into the much-acclaimed lawn-and-cotton industry. She said that she received some offers but was aware that success usually comes pretty late in the life of a designer. “The starting salary is no more than Rs30,000 and you don’t become a ‘brand’ until you have spent at least six years as an employee,” Majid said.
Quratulain Khalid and Mashmooma Majeed both decided to do a post-graduate course in photography after their studies because they thought that they wanted to take a hobby more seriously. Majeed believed that it is a growing field and especially so since the information revolution has hit the world. Khalid added, “Currently, Pakistan has a lot of scope for photographers. There are good jobs in the advertising sector and doing events and editorial photography yields good returns.”
A lecturer in the faculty of liberal arts, Babar Naeem Sheikh, asserted that IVSAA graduates are 110% per cent certain about what they will do with their lives. “I don’t even need to comment on our standing since we are the premier institution of the country in arts and architecture with the National College of Arts in Lahore,” Sheikh said.
The executive director, Samina Raees Khan, hoped that the students who graduated are not only humble and balanced designers, artists and architects in their own right, but above all, they are good human beings.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2011.
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