One needs patience to go through the exhaustive visa process for study in Germany

Studying in Germany is rewarding, but one needs patience to go through the exhaustive visa process, says Niveditha RavikumarDesign as a field has emerged as a sought-after choice among students of the 21st century and a getaway from traditional subjects like Engineering and Science.Pursuing a master's degree in the same has been a life-changing experience for Niveditha Ravikumar, who pursued Master's of Science in Design Research at the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation in cooperation with Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Dessau, and Humboldt University, Berlin.Niveditha is currently volunteering at the Kochi Muziris Biennale and believes that the master's programme in Germany helped her to reanalyse her professional aspirations. "The master's programme offered me a direction towards design and architecture exhibitions. This became all the more relevant after I did my master's thesis on the same topic at the institute," she adds.Her master's thesis titled 'India's Position at the Venice Architecture Biennale' is a topic relatively unknown in India. "It started as an intuitive question and pushed me further to investigate the weak participation of Indian architects at the Venice Biennale. The overwhelming results made me feel like a scientist of discovery. I am working on initiating a discussion within the country and take necessary steps to change the scenario," adds Niveditha, who is a native of Pondicherry.Narrowing down on Germany to pursue the programme was not an easy task, but has been a beneficial decision for Niveditha. "Germany is quite affordable for living and studying. Interestingly, I spent less than half of what I would have spent in a master's degree in India. Also, Bauhaus as the design world knows, is the 100-year-old historical institution that revolutionised design education. So, it built my confidence to go ahead with the decision of joining the institute without any second thoughts," she adds.The one-year intensive programme is targetted at professionals and consists of three modules - design research, design education and design projection in the first semester and an individual thesis research project in the second semester along with exposure to museums and the school's detailed history. "The professors in the school are highly experienced and internationally exposed to consider the classroom a discussion space and not a teaching environment. The programme was in English and therefore, lack of German language knowledge did not affect the classroom culture. Our group consisted of Indian, American, Thai, European, Korean, Latin American and Chinese students, that provided a global perspective to learning," she adds.Niveditha started out studying Architectural Journalism followed by Design Communication and is now leaning towards design curatorial opportunities. She is also an alumnus of School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), Vijayawada. "My calling is constantly evolving especially after the European experience; I am focussed on taking up one-year curatorial internships across the world thereby avoiding a permanent job. Having delved into the sea of design and architecture exhibitions, I want to bring back all the learning from the internships and change the scenario of meagrely existing design exhibitions and museums," she adds.