The Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts & Design (MD-SVAD) at Beaconhouse National University is home to the UNESCO Chair on ‘Inclusion through Art.’ The Chair serves to advance inclusive, interdisciplinary, and future facing practices in art and design education in Pakistan and South Asia. One of the Chair’s key manifestations is the Master of Art and Design Studies (MA ADS) programme, which brings together students from diverse geographical regions, academic trajectories, and professional disciplines in a shared postgraduate space of inquiry and practice.
Their postgraduate journey within MA ADS reflects the Chair’s commitment to inclusivity, accessibility in their use of method and approach to learning. Students engaged critically with themes of environmental decline, urban life, sustainability, memory, surveillance, and shared experiences, employing a wide range of strategies including painting, sculpture, textiles, sound, digital media, and mixed-media installations. The Degree Show stood as a material articulation of the UNESCO Chair’s vision, where diverse ways of thinking and making coexist, intersect, and shape new possibilities.
The exhibition opened on Saturday, 7 February 2026, and was inaugurated by the distinguished artist and academic, Prof. Mian Ijaz ul Hassan. Proceedings commenced at 2:45 PM with a high tea, followed by the launch of Prof. Mian Ijaz ul Hassan’s recently published book of drawings, and award ceremony held at 3:30 PM in honour of Prof. Mian Ijaz ul Hassan.
As part of the opening programme, a panel discussion moderated by Quddus Mirza brought together Shahnawaz Zaidi, Rahat Naveed Masud, and Sadia Pasha Kamran to reflect upon and pay homage to Prof. Mian Ijaz ul Hassan’s artistic practice and scholarly contributions.
The Degree Show remained open to the public from 9 to 14 February 2026 at Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, and welcomed over 200 visitors. Attendees included prominent figures from the fields of art, design, and culture, among them Kamiar Rokhni (Fashion Designer), Nadia Jamil (Actor), Qudsia Rahim (Co-founder and Executive Director of the Lahore Biennale Foundation), Nav Haq (Curator of the fourth edition of the Lahore Biennale), Fabrice Disdier (Director of Alliance Française Lahore), and Haseeb Gardezi (Executive Director of Pearl-Continental Hotel), among others.
