Study Tours

Experiencing Design across Borders

Culture inspires design and is the source of all creative arts. Creativity initiates with culture and its timely evolution; in order to achieve the flourishing of creative industries in Sri Lanka, it is required to find practical ways of nurturing creativity through culture during the education of design professionals.

International Tours

One of the main disadvantages all Sri Lankan design students is the lack of hands-on exposure to foreign cultures, international design brands and global looks. In order to produce homegrown design talent to match and even surpass international designers, the design industry in Sri Lanka needs graduates who have direct familiarity with global design and trends. In this context, AOD organizes annual international study tours for its students to broaden their design knowledge; this will help them develop design concepts that are in line with international movements.

Tour in Dubai – UAE

Tour in Singapore

Exploring Sri Lanka

AOD organizes local study tours for its students capturing Sri Lanka’s key heritage cities, museums and local creative institutions like galleries, cultural centers and certain studios. It is the fundamental goal of AOD to produce thoughtful, active and culturally and humanely sensitive design professionals who will be prepared to interact within their respective industries as well as contribute to the future development of Sri Lankan culture as a whole.

“Geoffrey Bawa’s house in Colombo”

This week the Graphic, Interior, Fashion andstudents from first-year went to see the Geoffrey Bawa House located down 33rd lane, off Bagatalle Road.
The house is long and simple which makes a perfect gallery to showcase all the special pieces of furniture, sculpture and art. In fact, the design contains four
small houses in a row which results in an introspective labyrinth of rooms and garden courts which creates the illusion of a limitless space, inside becomes outside and outside becomes inside.

[Gallery not found]

“Vrukshua art exhibition”

AOD students visited “Vruksha” an exhibition of black and white line drawings of trees by Charmaine Mendis with Minha Mahushukeen and Dila Weerasinghe together with their mentor Karunasiri Wijesinghe.

Visit to Chitra Lane School

The Graphic Design students visited the Chitra Lane School along with their lecturer Alain Parizeau and Guest Lecturer Aarika Hernandez to witness the process of paper production used to develop unique greeting-cards. They were also were able to take a look at the screen printing project and other beautiful hand-embroidered products made by the Chitra Lane School students.

Foundation Students Field Trip

The AOD Design-Foundation students went on a 4 day tour to better understand the traditions of ancient art and architecture, Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle. They visited the Dambulla Rock, Sigirya, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura and studied the early evolution of Sri Lanan arts guided by their programme head Diana Criswell. AOD constantly encourages its students to expand their knowledge on their cultural heritage as it serves as an invaluable source of inspiration for design.

Exploring the Green Technology at MAS Thurulie Factory.

The Thurulie factory belonging to MAS Holdings is an award-winning factory for it’s green initiations. It’s a rare factory that was specially designed to emit a minimum amount of carbon and pollutants, while also spending a minimum amount of energy for its functioning. AOD students went on a special tour at the Thurulie factory to understand the importance of employing ecologically friendly and sustainable practices in the process of design and manufacturing.

Visiting the Linea Aqua Swimwear Factory.

Process always informs design; this is why it’s extremely important for young designers to understand the process of manufacturing, its limitations, possibilities and duration. Before commencing their swimwear project, the AOD fashion design students toured the MAS Linea Aqua factory in order to get a better understanding of the manufacturing process of swimwear. The design project is to be completed by the end of 2011.

Cultural and Craft Exploration in the Hill Capital, Kandy.

AOD’s fashion designers accompanied by their Principal, British Fashion Designer Karen MacLeod visited Kandy and its suburbs in order to explore the cultural heritage and the traditional crafts of the area. Students visited Kandy’s magnificent history through its museum and went on to explore the traditional weaving craft in the Dumbara villages.

Journeying through southern crafts in Galle.

Southern Sri Lanka has a variety of crafts stemming from its colonial origins and before. These crafts have proven to be a valuable source of inspiration for designers over the years. AOD’s fashion design students visited the Beeralu-making villages in Galle to get a closer look at the craft, the skills required for it and the lives of the artisans.