Sonipat, November 2022.

World University of Design (WUD) commemorated National Design Guru Day with the felicitation of noted Prof. Archana Shastri as Design Guru on Wednesday, November 16th, 2022 at WUD Campus.

Archana has varied contributions in the field of Design and have helped create many generations of young designers & artists as a professor in NIFT and later as Principal of Government College of Art, Chandigarh and HOD (Kaladarsana) at IGNCA. Her works as an artist are part of many prestigious collections around the world. Her last assignment was as Director Mekong Ganga Cooperation Asian Textile Museum in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Prof. Archana Shastri was honored with the title of Design Guru by World University of Design for 2022. As part of the event a MP Ranjan memorial lecture was also delivered by Prof. Archana Shastri.

Keeping up with global standards and forging new thresholds in the sphere of Design, Dr. Sanjay Gupta (Vice-Chancellor, World University of Design) said, “WUD believes in legacies that legends have provided us on a platter to learn from and enjoy. It strives to pay homage to gurus who have contributed to the field of art and design with their grit and determination. National Design Guru Day gives us an exceptional opportunity to honor Design Pundits. As we impart education in design we also see ourselves as evangelists of the discipline; indeed we believe in the ever-changing nature of the domain and its relevance in the changing world. It is the work of Design Gurus that has given the field of design its due value and is deemed as a mainstream subject. I feel responsible in making design education trans-disciplinary and available to those who have the passion and the enthusiasm. How design as a binding discipline across all sectors, industries and fields is a story in itself. It has thus become extremely important for us to recognize first generation Design Gurus for having played a pivotal role in it. I feel fortunate to have her with us, a celebrated academician. She is a name who in her vast career has chiseled out essential nuances in the field of design and made that knowledge available to younger generations.”

On the occasion Prof. Archana Shastri remarked, “I am highly pleased with the love and respect I have received here in the university. I see the zeal and substance in the students here through the questions they raise! Also I would congratulate World University of Design for their incredible contribution to the design fraternity and for propelling the passion for the subject across disciplines. Their emphasis on design as trans-disciplinary education is commendable because design is what the future awaits.”

Since their inception in 2018 WUD has emerged as a promising institute spearheading all domains pertaining to Design as a discipline. Being the first and the only institute exclusively dedicated to this creative field, the university recognizes National Design Guru Day every year to mark the birth anniversary of Prof. M P Ranjan, a name that has pioneered design education as part of mainstream curriculum and helped in percolating it through generations of students of design. While observing this day annually the university pays its homage to the first generation of Design Gurus who flagged off the revolutionary design movement in India.