Congratulations, class of 2022!
- Written byInternal Communications
- Published date 20 July 2022
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After a 2-year hiatus sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic, our in-person graduation ceremonies at the Royal Festival Hall came back in full swing this year, starting with our 2020/2021 ceremonies in May and continuing with our celebrations of UAL’s Class of 2022 this July.
And what a comeback it was: 5116 graduates across UAL made the most of their special day, giving noteworthy performances as they walked across the stage and celebrated their achievements. Our virtual graduation platform also received 9458 visits during the two weeks of our graduation ceremonies.
July’s ceremonies featured not only an impressive line-up of graduation outfits, but also flags, a dachshund and our incredible London College of Fashion graduate Rosalba Mensah, who went viral after doing the splits during her graduation ceremony. Our UAL Chancellor and Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry donned quite the incredible outfit himself: during the ceremonies, he debuted his spectacular new robes, designed by BA (Hons) Fashion Knitwear student at Central Saint Martins Yuze Li, with support from staff and students from Central Saint Martins and London College of Fashion.
We also had the pleasure of announcing an incredible list of honoraries, some of whom were able to join us in person, including Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine, Glen Matlock, musician, singer and songwriter and one of the founding members of the Sex Pistols and Melanie Keen, visionary Director of the Wellcome Collection.
Following the sad passing of David Crow this year, our Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon College of Arts (CCW) ceremonies featured a touching tribute to the beloved professor, former head of CCW and friend. UAL lecturer Romero Bryan also gave a moving tribute to MA Academic Practice student Jennifer Williams-Bafoe who sadly passed away earlier this year.
Before hundreds of students got ready to step on stage, we had some fantastic student speakers reflecting on their time at UAL. The speakers for July’s ceremonies included:
London College of Communication
- School of Media: Madison John, BA Magazine Journalism and Publishing
- School of Screen: Tyla Sharp and Margaux Comte, BA Film and Television
- School of Design: Abigail Chapman, MA Design for Social Innovation
“Your time at UAL has given you the space to grow, to learn, to become the person ready to start your next chapter! So go out into the world. Explore. Think. Imagine. Truly open your eyes and see. Dream. Never give into fear. Be who you want to be, not what your environment dictates you to be and when life gets chaotic, remember, there is a community in UAL always around you.” - Abigail Chapman
Chelsea College of Arts, Wimbledon College of Art & Design, Camberwell College of Arts, Creative Computing Institute (CCI)
- Chelsea: Synchar Pde, BA Fine Art
- Camberwell, Wimbledon and CCI: Daniel Imode, BA Acting and Performance
“During COVID we persevered and found new ways to create, new ways to collaborate and new ways to empathise, and just as we had gotten used to our new reality the train called life began to depart and again, we were halted shortly after by a social political flashpoint in the murder of George Floyd. At this stop we reflected on our humanity and our role as artists as vehicles for creative and social change.” - Daniel Imode
London College of Fashion
- Fashion Business School: Rita Santos Maia Da Silva, MSc Cosmetic Science
- School of Media and Communication: Hugo Taylor, BA Creative Direction for Fashion
- School of Design and Technology: Dirk Vaessen, MA Footwear
“I want to congratulate you for being a new generation. A generation with a mission, a generation with power. We stand for equality, acceptance, for being weird, for being outcast, we stand for our environment because we know the consequences. And when you think it is too much and you can’t do it all, then ask yourself the question: can I make the first step?” - Dirk Vaessen
Central Saint Martins
- Graphic Design, Communication, Spatial Practices, Culture and Enterprise: Leonidas Liolios and Marianne Thomas, BA Graphic Communication Design
- Art and Performance: Ken Nakajima, MA Performance Design and Practice
- Fashion, Jewellery and Textile Design, Product, Ceramic and Industrial Design: Jesse Adler, MA Material Futures
“Create something that gives a thrill to the chest. Create something that enters the body of the spectator, like a body. Create something that is hard to accept without any doubts, but also impossible to forget.” - Ken Nakajima
As we celebrate our Class of 2022, we’re reminded of the words by honoree Florence Welch, who told the audience:
“The essentialness of art can never be denied. It is a lifesaving force, capable of making sense of the senseless and expressing the unexpressable. Please never forget that as you move out into the world that needs artists now more than ever.”
Join us in celebrating UAL’s Class of 2022 by looking back at our week of graduation ceremonies!
If you were unable to watch our July ceremonies live, you can now catch up with them online.
Discover final year work of our Class of 2022 on our online Graduate Showcase.
Images: UAL Class of 2022 graduation ceremonies, Royal Festival Hall at Southbank Centre | Photography: David Poultney
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This year's ceremonies were never short of surprises... -
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Photography: David Poultney -
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Graduate walks across stage holding a dachshund wearing a small graduation hat
