Safesteps Expo

Within the three International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes at the Aga Khan Academy, the arts are given special focus. Students are encouraged to function as artists, as well as become learners of the arts. Art is understood and emphasised as a tool to build awareness of the aesthetic to support the development of an empathetic worldview, while students develop appreciation for art in the context of culture and history. At the Academy, the growing profile of the Art Department is demonstrated by talented and imaginative student outputs and directly reflect the enthusiasm and artistic capability of their teachers.

Vijayaraghavan Srinivasan is a prolific painter and video artist whose work explores the intersection between self and society. He facilitates IB Visual Arts at the Academy, in his words, “aimed at developing a strong formalistic and aesthetic understanding as a basis for unique personal expressions in my students. I believe the post-modernist approach to teaching Visual Arts enables students to rediscover the intelligence towards relationships by creating links with multiple disciplines and capitalise on imaginative novelty.”  

Over the last decade, he has participated widely in various biennales, video festivals, and art residency programs across India and the world. This allows him to gain insights into contemporary art styles and enhance his pedagogical strategies in teaching art appreciation to promote creativity, critical thinking and encourage artistic independence along with a spirit of inquiry.

“For seven years,” Vijay tells us, “I have had the wonderful opportunity to instruct a diverse group of primary, middle and senior school students. I encourage and expect my students to be confrontational towards themselves as well as towards what they are seeing, to always question – never settle, and to be aware of the wonder that can be revealed by the creation of a work through honesty, passion and empathy.” 

In 2016, Vijay’s piece The Trinity Saga was published by Aesthetica Magazine in the UK. The Aesthetica Artists Directory is a global network of artists engaging with the professional art world through forums for discussions and interactivity both in the print and digital spheres, where the best in emerging art from around the world has a chance to be discovered.

Proving that he embodies the philosophy of lifelong learning, in the summer of 2016 Vijay attended an advanced-level visual arts course at the Berlin Art Institute Studio Program, which is closely tied to the IB Diploma Programme art curriculum. The course work offered advanced-level studio art practice and experimentation with mixed media. “The avant-garde art practices and experiments with unconventional processes further enhanced my understanding of contemporary art practice,” says Vijay, “and focused on producing artwork in a transdisciplinary way, with compassion and responsibility as key themes.”

After the course, Vijay had the opportunity to work on a collaborative project with Kelly Reedy, an American experimental artist who specialises in art therapy. Labelled Under the Ageis, the mixed media video installation explored the archaic myth of Medusa in relationship to the primal aspects and duality of the ‘great mother’ and ‘terrible mother’ archetypes. Reedy’s research into psychological theories concerning the quality of the attachment of the primary care giver or “mother” in relation to the development of her child’s security and sense of self, accentuate her exploration of the transformative powers of the creative process in art to heal and make whole again.

“I encourage my students to develop  a strong formalistic and aesthetic understanding of art as a basis for expressing their own personal vision,” says Vijay. “I encourage each of them to grow on their own, to be free to make mistakes, to push themselves in ways that their work takes them. I feel that self-directed education is inevitably the best way to guide young people in their education as students of art.”

 

Slotted above the library in the Academy Building is the Outreach department, a corner office with spartan furnishing. You wouldn’t know it to look at it, but this office is a crucial link between the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad and local government school teachers and students in the region. Rajan Thampi, who has been connected with the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) for over a decade, is the program manager for the Outreach department at the Academy in Hyderabad. The opportunity to serve, he says, drew him to the job.

Rajan has played this role of connecting students to resources for his entire career. His work with Aga Khan Education Services began in 2008 in Maheshwaram Mandal, present day Telangana, where he implemented outreach programs for government schools and anganwadis. Rajan was in charge of programs like introducing life skills to high schoolers, leading health programs for adolescent girls, organising inter school sports competitions, and also training teachers for pre-primary and primary schools. Rajan’s other responsibility at that time, something he is still involved in, is creating and maintaining relationships with government officials.

A significant part of outreach depends on securing permission and getting recognition from government education bodies. Rajan played a major role in getting junior and senior schools recognised by the authorities. Rajan thanks the people who support the outreach department in these endeavors - the Academies Unit and members of the local board, Suleiman Hirani and Jayanthi.

Born in Kerala, the second of five siblings, Rajan grew up in Shakkarnagar, Telangana. Shakkarnagar is home to historical industrial era sites built under the Nizam. Most significant among these sites is the 1,600 square kilometer Nizam Sugar Factory that the town gets its name from. Designed as a model town, the place was built for factory employees and their families. “My father was an accountant in the factory,” remembers Rajan, “and we use to live in the accommodation provided by the factory in its colony.” Madhu Malancha high school, where Rajan went, was also created and funded by the factory. But India’s sugar trade has been in decline for decades, and in his lifetime Rajan has had to see the closure and privatisation of the massive factory. “Asia’s largest sugar factory is now shut,” he muses.

After completing senior school, Rajan gained a Bachelors in Commerce and started teaching at a private school. Finding his calling, Rajan then pursued a Bachelors in Education, focusing on social studies and education. Today he also has a Masters degree in social work under his belt. To Rajan, these degrees are tools to help others. Asked about the outreach department's future plans, his responses are ambitious and focused. “Reaching out to 31 districts of Telangana,” he says, “and to continue to share expertise through collaborative discussion forums for the government teachers are some of my plans.”

“Inner delight,” he says, “and the satisfaction obtained from working for a cause are the rewards I seek from my work." If the outreach program is a manifestation of the ethos behind service and stewardship, then Rajan exemplifies those ethos.

Faridah joined AKA Hyderabad in 2012 and has since worn as many hats as the number of years she has spent here. Initially appointed as PA to the incumbent Senior School Principal (Raymond Zinsli), Faridah has gone on to occupy roles in several different facets of the Academy’s operations. 

She has represented the Academy during talent identification trips alongside admissions officers. She worked as a learning support specialist in the SEN (Special Education Needs) department. In her capacity as community liaison, she recruits host families for international students from conflict areas. She is instrumental in the organisation of the annual graduation ceremony and in the creation of the yearbook. For the last two years, Faridah has also been responsible for coordinating various events in the outreach department, such as the Collaborative Discussion Forums, which facilitate exchanges between Academy teachers and their government school counterparts. In between, she is often to be seen chaperoning students on field trips, participating in city runs and rallies, and volunteering to put together staff get-togethers and farewell parties. 

These varied projects and activities are a testament to Faridah’s dynamism, eternal enthusiasm to learn, and diverse skill set. She is well-known for her graciousness and poise, while her beaming smile and affable spirit enable her to connect with people from all walks of life. “Usually a job comes with a set of criteria and does not allow you to explore other fields of interest,” she shares. “But I owe a lot to Mr. Ray, who played a major role in finding the best position available for me. To be able to focus on projects like the yearbook, or setting up a special learning support department – things which truly interest me, and bring out the best in me – is something I would never have discovered if not for the Academy.” 

Faridah’s personal growth has been paralleled by the giant strides AKA Hyderabad has made in scope and size since it began. “When we started out, we knew we had to set the standard for what the future would hold. The vision and the philosophy of His Highness the Aga Khan has been taught to us since when we were children; to see a culmination of this in the form of a school that aspires to raise leaders of tomorrow was immensely gratifying. And to have been a part of this process from the very beginning has been a true honour.”  Faridah speaks joyfully of the day His Highness the Aga Khan visited the Academy in 2013. “I was asked to give the family a campus tour and try to show them as many parts of the school as was possible. This daunting task was both a privilege and a chance for me to truly utilize everything that I had learnt thus far through my work at the Academy, and put it to practical use.” 

Of all the things she is involved in, perhaps the one that is closest to her heart is the yearbook. Rightfully so, considering she was responsible for initiating it in 2014-15. “I really wanted to implement the tradition of the yearbook here at the Academy, because I felt like it was a great way for students to always remember their school and their friends. We worked hard that first year to raise a budget, find a printer and gather the content. But all the efforts paid off when, at the graduation ceremony, we got to give the students something they could take away with them and use as a reminder of their time here.” 

Faridah is concurrently completing a B.Ed in Learning Disabilities, and hopes to gain more experience in this area in the future. “Working with children and helping them grow to be the best versions of themselves has always been very fulfilling for me personally. Learning is a lifelong process and the best way to learn is to be in an environment that facilitates self-learning and personal growth.” 

Written by Kamini Menon