Lala Rukh’s First Visit to London

 

My visit to the Slade in October 2010 expanded my view of what the culture of education can be and also how cultures can develop independently even though the root may be related or common.

At the Slade I saw that though there were three separate areas, the students confidently moved from one to the other. This is made possible because their study is self-directed and not medium specific. In my total of three visits to the Slade I sat through seminars and crits, observed students shows, sat in on assessment boards and was given tours of the extensive studio, workshop and laboratory facilities of the Slade which ranged from the analog to the digital and contemporary. I had the opportunity to interact with the faculty and in my perception I felt more visible, more of a presence with each of my visits. I was fascinated by the confidence of the students and the patience of the teachers. The seminars where students discussed their work, not only with tutors but also their peers were also a new experience for me. In contrast, our students were more diffident, less eloquent yet in terms of quality, I felt that they were the same. The differences stemmed from differences in culture and economies. This idea gained strength with my three visits to the Slade over the course of this three year exchange

Susan and I decided that an interdisciplinary workshop for students would create a context for discussion, a way to bring in a diversity of medium and interaction between the departments at our Faculty in Dhaka. Thus in January 2011 Dryden Goodwin from the Fine Art Media area of the Slade came to Dhaka, lectured on his own practice and led a workshop which systematically explored the process of art making from observation to translating experiences into particular media to present to viewers.

Lala Rukh Selim