Pearl Academy PORTFOLIO 2022: Celebration of students’ raw, edgy, creative ideas: Confluence of technology and creativity was at display by the students of Pearl Academy at ‘Portfolio 2022’.
An annual event, Portfolio 2022 is a kaleidoscope of ideas and an impressive showcase of a diverse range of innovative projects in the fields of design, fashion, creative practices, media and business. The Union Minister of State for Textile and Railways, Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh inaugurated the two-day event.
She was joined by Sharad Mehra, President, Creative Arts Education Society, and Aditi Srivastava, President, Pearl Academy. Sunil Sethi, Chairman, Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) and fashion designer Ashish N Soni inaugurated the fashion show conceptualized and executed by the School of Fashion students.
Encouraging the students at Portfolio 2022, Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Union Minister of State for Railways and Textiles said, “I congratulate Pearl Academy for nurturing students in various creative arts and combining them with modern technology. The students are the future of this nation and I would like to encourage them to work towards Vocal for Local, Skill India, and Atmanirbhar Bharat. These government initiatives are important for prosperity of our nation and its citizens. She also encouraged the students to utilize this academic knowledge to learn and conserve traditional art & craft of India and support the local artisans.”
Sharing the vision of Pearl Academy and Portfolio 2022, Sharad Mehra, Chairman – Creative Arts Education Society, Pearl Academy, said, “The vision of Portfolio 2022 has been to enable our students to show the world their ideas on embracing technology, creativity, reality and humanity to create a better tomorrow. I am excited by the glimpse of the future they have shown through their digital and human-centric projects and concepts. As Pearl Academy enters Metaverse, Portfolio 2022 is a fitting beginning to an exhilarating journey.”
“Pearl Academy is proud of its legacy of 30 years of creative impact. We have been developing and nurturing creative talent in diverse fields and empowering them for their professional careers and entrepreneurial dreams. We are excited about the achievements of our students and alumni who presented at Portfolio 2022”, added Aditi Srivastava, President, Pearl Academy.
During Portfolio 2022, a panel discussion was also organized on the theme ‘Creator or Entrepreneur- what should I be?’ It was moderated by Souniya Khurana Co-founder and CEO, WYN Studio and the panelists were Deep Bajaj, Co-Founder – Sirona, Varun Saxena, CEO and Founder, Bolo Live. While interacting with the students, Deep encouraged them to solve the problems nobody is solving as genuine ideas addressing real challenges will always find success. Varun advised Gen Alpha content creators to focus on value-based and relatable content.
Anshul Rustaggi, Founder, Totality Corp, gave a keynote address on ‘Metaverse: How real is virtual reality?’. It was followed by a workshop on ‘NFTs and its significance to designers’ by Ninaad Kothawade, Community Manager, NFT Asia.
Digital art and exhibits showcased by School of Creative Practices have been done in collaboration with Google Collab Research Centre and Artificial Intelligence Diffusion Models. For fashion styling, the VR lens has been created by Snapchat.
The students of School of Contemporary Media put up an exemplary display of fiction films, fashion films and documentaries. An outstanding Augmented Reality project by student of fashion communication Rushil Pradhan garnered much praise. Several books on topics such as gender issues, fashion protests, and magazines covering art, culture and lifestyle, created from concept to completion, were part of the showcase.
The original theme-based photography by SOCM students made a popular backdrop at Pearl Portfolio 2022. This included several International award winning images. The highlight among visitors at the event were the postcards designed by students of SOCM which explored several poignant social issues like feminism and self-expression.