Introduction

Welcome to NCAD Works 2021, our digital platform celebrating the work of our 2021 graduating students and documenting the series of live events staged at sites across the City, at IMMA and virtually on 24, 25 and 26 June, 2021.

Through this site you can explore the full breadth of work by our extraordinary graduates. We are exceptionally proud of the final-year and postgraduate students who are part of NCAD Works 2021, and in sharing their work with you we would like to pay tribute to them and the ways in which they have individually responded to the immense challenges that the last year has posed. NCAD was delighted to be able to provide access to the studios and workshops for our final year students for significant periods of this academic year, but despite this they have been faced with a particularly challenging environment in which to develop their final projects and collections. That this year’s work is of such an exceptional standard, is a huge testament to their dedication, resilience, creativity and the dedication of the NCAD staff who have supported them through this year. 

Our students continue to demonstrate their ambition and commitment to make work that has impact and meaning to us all in many different ways. Their work this year reflects many of the big challenges our society currently faces including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, sustainability, women’s sexual health and social change, as well as more personal but universal themes such as celebrating the ordinary, gender identity and equity, and digital futures. 

An education at NCAD is the starting point for generations of bold and curious minds that have made an enormous contribution to society in many different ways. Experimentation in the studio, learning through doing, deep understanding of materials and processes, as well as the criticality that is embedded across all pathways, prepare graduates to thrive in and beyond the worlds of art and design. We cannot predict the kind of world our graduates will be working in, but we do know that the imagination, creativity and critical thinking they have gained during their time at NCAD will equip them to make an impact in whatever path they follow. At times like these we need thinkers and doers who are not afraid to ask questions, adapt and lead, and this generation of NCAD graduates’ creativity and resilience will benefit us all in years to come.

This year’s graduates have already been recognised in a series of prestigious international awards which gives an early indication of the impact their work will have across society in the coming years – they are truly a group to watch. 

So on behalf of An Bord and all my colleagues at NCAD – congratulations to all our graduating students, we are extremely proud of all that you have achieved and we look forward to following your creative journeys in the future.

Professor Sarah Glennie
Director