We were delighted to welcome Olivia Ahmad to Wakefield Girls’ today.  Olivia Ahmad is the Artistic Director at the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, formerly the House of Illustration – the only dedicated illustration and graphic arts gallery in the UK. 

Olivia joined us in Assembly to share insights from her own journey and the importance of representation in Illustration.  Our Year 7 students were fortunate to attend bespoke workshops led by Olivia throughout the day in our Learning Resources Centre, exploring how we can use visual language to express ourselves. Year 7 took great delight in getting creative with comic workshops.

Olivia has worked closely with Quentin Blake for many years and has curated exhibitions showcasing our most famous book illustrators- Raymond Briggs, Shirley Hughes, E.H. Shepherd and Posy Simmonds, as well as exhibitions of North Korean and Cuban graphic art and Soviet- era picture books.

Olivia was the Editor of Varoom, the magazine for Illustration in the UK, she has been on the judging panel of the Bologna Book Fair, and her recent books include 100 Figures: the unseen art of Quentin Blake and New York: Lucinda Rogers Drawings 1988 – 2018.

Ms R Harries

Librarian & Diversity & Inclusion Champion