The proliferation of technology has redefined the boundaries of artistic expression. In the 21st century, fine arts education no longer solely revolves around traditional mediums such as painting, sculpture, and theater. Digital art, virtual reality, and interactive installations have become essential components of the curriculum. Students are encouraged to explore these innovative avenues, blending traditional techniques with digital tools to create immersive experiences that engage contemporary audiences.
Alliance University, Bangalore, has been staying abreast of this technological innovation in the field of fine arts to provide state-of-the-art education.
Alliance University, Bangalore, provides both undergraduate and postgraduate programs in fine arts as a design program. The vision of this program is to contribute to the creative economy in India and ultimately help in its revival.
The bachelor’s in visual arts provides a firm hold on the principles and practices of design. It is unique in its transdisciplinary emphasis on combining technological acumen with artistic vision.
Nurturing the Spirit of Collaboration
With rigorous training in the use of various design and animation software, students of Alliance University, Bangalore, pursue a practice-oriented curriculum executing multiple projects meant to convey a range of ideas and messages.
With their perspectives enriched by courses in art history, psychology, and engineering design, they will engage prolifically in various mediums, be it print, web, or social media and work in groups with different stakeholders, thereby nurturing the spirit of collaboration. Most significantly, they will apprentice with experts in their domains and visit art and design galleries in order to nurture a rich reservoir of artistic inspiration.
Students will consistently be involved in the in-house design department of Alliance and experience the challenges of promoting a brand. They will also be tasked to come up with design solutions for grassroots requirements. With such a holistic repertoire of experiences, they will be fully prepared to enter advertising agencies, magazine, and newspaper publication houses, besides having the confidence to start ventures of their own.
Fostering Better Interactions with Society
The university’s fine arts program is distinguished in such a way that it has interactions with disciplines like Philosophy, Literature, Politics, and Sociology, which enriches what fine arts mean for students and helps them have a better understanding of how fine arts interacts with society. Its students are also provided with opportunities to:
- Have an inside track to Global Leaders’ Alliance Fellowship
- Take classes with Oxbridge/Ivy-League faculty
- Participate in national and international-level art exhibitions
- Organize the Alliance Art and Film Festival
- Design and document for the Alliance Campus
- Apprentice with the best designers in India
- Be a part of the creative economy
The university focuses on various areas, such as animation, graphics, painting, sculpture, and video art.
Pillars of the University
Dr Ravi Chakraborty is the Director of Communication for Liberal Arts, Department of Language and Literature.
Dr Ravi Chakraborty holds a Doctoral degree in Humanities & Social Sciences from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. His research is motivated by a reaction to the Sokal affair that deeply scarred the humanities and social sciences as a discipline and held them back from freely interacting with the ‘harder’ sciences. However, with the rise of the creature that is digital humanities, the humanities must reassert the right to have a philosophical conversation with the sciences and not just remain mute and grateful adopters of technological tools as the ‘gifts’ of science.
The meta-theoretical nature of his research interests makes him develop a stake in the philosophy of mathematics, science, and technology. With a background defined by a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at IIT Kanpur and a master’s in English Literature at the University of Delhi, he seeks to orient his pedagogical training to rethink established connotations of interdisciplinarity.
Prof. Voothaluru Seshu is an Assistant Professor at the Alliance School of Liberal Arts. Prof. Voothaluru Seshu holds a master’s in fine arts degree in visual communication from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He has experience spanning two decades in advertising and design for international, national, and regional products and services.
Prof. Seshu’s thoughts on creativity are centred on the thought that everything that is created comes out of silence. Thoughts emerge from the nothingness of silence. Words come out of this void. The very essence emerges from emptiness. All creativity requires some stillness. Creativity involves breaking out established patterns in order to look at things in a different way. Prof. Seshu believes that creativity helps him escape a lot of his inner demons. Problems are hidden opportunities, and constraints can actually boost creativity.
Prof. Sangita Das is an Assistant Professor at the Alliance School of Liberal Arts. Prof. Sangita holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Govt. College of Art and Craft, Kolkata, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati University, with a specialization in Sculpture. She was awarded a national scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India. She has been teaching in various educational institutions guiding and motivating students with an excellent ability to teach in a multicultural environment.
In the creative field, Ms. Sangita works across painting, sculpture, installation, and photography. The subject of her work is sustainable art, land art, public art, contemporary art, and urban architecture. She has developed various art-media practices. She has exhibited and participated in various state and national-level art exhibitions across the country. Her work is always based on research approaches.
Prof. Sangita has interests in art and design theory, handcraft design research, sustainable art practice, aesthetics, world and Indian art history, and temple architecture.
Prof. Subhankar Saha is also an Assistant Professor at Alliance School of Liberal Arts. Prof. Subhankar Saha earned his Master of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees from Indira Kala Sangit Vishwavidyalaya, Chhattisgarh, with a specialization in Painting. He has been working as a Fine Arts teacher in different educational institutions and has gained a lot of experience from his assignments. Throughout his professional career so far, he has achieved knowledge about different painting mediums and different forms of art & craft. Prof. Saha has also done many paintings of realistic and abstract formations. He looks at exploring art forms in various experimental ways.
Prof. Saha explains his painting work in different ways. He believes that his thoughts come from his inner sense of beauty that lies within the persona of each individual. His artwork is inspired by different aspects of daily life, dreams, and nature observation. He has exhibited his painting in different galleries and has participated in different workshops in the field of art. Prof. Saha is always in pursuit of new creative inventions.
Fostering Cultural Creativity
Alliance University has full-fledged development design and art studios for sculpture, painting, canvases, easels, and materials. It also has access to various software sources.
It fosters cultural creativity by constantly involving its students in all the in-house and on-campus fine arts, exhibitions, and other campus art requirements.
The institute looks to partner with galleries and event museums by constantly providing opportunities for students to be interns and part-time volunteers so that galleries and museums can have assistance and support in terms of creating art and in the curation of the outreach process.
The exhibition opportunities are quite a few: Alliance University will connect students to all the event exhibitions organizations and will also connect students with dedicated exhibitions. It constantly holds arts and literary festivals, which helps place students who can network to have more avenues in the exhibitions.
From day one, the university helps students start building their prospective portfolio, which reflects their artistic identity in the true sense, and it constantly provides feedback for polishing the same. It is a new course, so the university is still developing students to make significant contributions to the art world and build a network of successful alums.
Ensuring Career Advancement
Alliance University connects its students to a dedicated team for placements in the Career Advancement and Networking Office (CAN). They also help students to get trained and mentored by faculty.
Through guest lectures and workshops by industry experts. It also has special electives dedicated to the latest trends in fine arts. It constantly engages with the local art community, including both mainstream artists and their communities.
Access to different materials and mediums is provided in designated laboratories, and students play an active role in the requisitioning and procurement of materials. For instance, it is engaged with the weaving society in Anekal, where the campus is located, and tries to assist students in understanding the weaving societies to better design and market their products. Besides that, it is also interested in constantly working with the art galleries and exhibition centres in Bangalore.
