Written by: Muhammad Hamza
Posted on: January 13, 2026 | 
| 中文
Zukhruf Farooq
The NCA Rawalpindi Thesis Display 2025, also referred to as the Degree Show or graduation exhibition, stands as a vibrant celebration of emerging talent from Pakistan’s premier art institution. Held at the Rawalpindi campus on Liaquat Road near Liaquat Bagh, the exhibition opened to the public in early January 2026, showcasing the culminating thesis projects of graduating students. As part of the National College of Arts’ ongoing legacy, marking 150 years of excellence in 2025, this display highlights the creativity, technical mastery and conceptual depth of young artists, designers, and architects.
The Rawalpindi campus, established in 2005 as an extension of the historic Lahore institution, offers undergraduate programs in Fine Arts, Visual Communication Design, Textile Design, and Architecture. These departments form the core of the thesis display, where final year students present ambitious bodies of work developed over their senior year. The exhibition serves not only as an academic milestone but also as a public platform where students address personal, social, cultural and environmental themes through innovative mediums.
Outside the exhibition area
The atmosphere at the display is electric, with galleries filled with large scale paintings, intricate textile installations, bold graphic posters, architectural models and mixed media sculptures. Visitors wander through thoughtfully curated spaces, often engaging directly with the artists who are present to discuss their processes. The show reflects NCA’s commitment to blending traditional Pakistani artistic heritage, such as miniature influences, calligraphy and craft traditions, with contemporary global concerns like identity, sustainability, urbanization and social change.
Installations
In the Fine Arts section, students explore deeply personal and societal issues through painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. One standout work is a series of large-scale canvases that blend traditional miniature techniques with modern abstraction, commenting on the fragmentation of cultural identity in urban Pakistan. Another highlight includes sculptural installations using recycled materials to symbolize environmental degradation and resilience.
Amelia Ilyas, ‘from the days I have disappeared’, presents a textual exploration of finding the self within a blockade and refusing to acknowledge that it is a loop within a loop. Matching letters to catering silhouettes and not so gentle chants, her space embodies the idea of reincarnation and a stripped self, reaching a point where purity is not shame but grace. The subtle use of wire in her textual poetry charms viewers to take a step back and experience a moment that is meant to be truly felt.
Amelia Ilyas
Zukhruf Farooq offers monotone galore infused with nostalgia, like poetry where elderly family figures sit within old school curated furniture. The emotional experience is unlike any other. ‘Held By Her Presence’ truly hits home, presenting gentle outdoor sitting scapes where every artwork radiates warmth, as if it is something we have been missing or perhaps something we have outgrown in our curation of life. The scenes draw from daily rituals we often overlook, unfolding a classic tale of memory through her drawings.
Zukhruf Farooq
Ghulam Fatima highlights how humans are increasingly consuming trash while simultaneously polluting the environment. Every ounce of food on our plates is processed. Her film showcases a group of people gathered around a table enjoying bespoke food, yet plastic scraps cling to their forks. It is unsettling to witness how everything is deteriorating, including ourselves. The world is rendered as a grotesque space, almost hell like, where extracting resources has become more important than being beneficial to the surroundings we inhabit.
Ghulam Fatima
The exhibition also includes interdisciplinary collaborations, where Fine Arts students contribute murals to architectural models, creating holistic presentations that showcase NCA Rawalpindi’s emphasis on cross departmental creativity.
Under the guidance of Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Murtaza Jafri, this thesis display exemplifies NCA’s tradition of producing work that is both technically proficient and conceptually bold. The Rawalpindi campus, though younger than Lahore, has established itself as a hub for innovative expression, attracting visitors from across Pakistan and beyond.
Artworks on display
The 2025 display, delayed in its public opening to early 2026, coincides with NCA’s broader celebrations, including the Triennale 2025 “Kasb e Kamal Kun,” reinforcing the institution’s motto of striving for excellence. Visitors leave inspired by the next generation’s ability to address pressing issues through art, from climate change to cultural identity.
In a country rich with artistic heritage yet facing modern complexities, the NCA Rawalpindi Thesis Display 2025 proves that young creators are not just preserving tradition, they are actively reshaping it. This exhibition is more than a graduation showcase; it is a testament to the enduring power of art to provoke thought, inspire change and celebrate human creativity.
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