Events at MDA
Morlam : Tracing a Migration of Sound in Southeast Asia and Beyond
(March 31, 2018 2:33 pm)
Regionalism versus Bourgeois Nationalism
(October 4, 2017 2:33 pm)
Rage, Love and Hope
(August 1, 2017 10:14 am)
MDA Double Bill – Asian Art Publics | Food in Contemporary Art
(July 27, 2017 6:09 pm)
Rites of Change: Artistic Responses to Recent Street Protests in Kuala Lumpur
(July 27, 2017 6:05 pm)
Framing the Beginnings of the M+ Architecture Collection
(July 27, 2017 5:42 pm)
CounterCartographies – Traveling Light, Singapore
(July 6, 2017 5:37 pm)
Reclaiming Territory: Reverting Indonesian Design Practices into Civil Movements
(June 28, 2017 8:32 pm)
Archiving Singapore Graphic Design Histories
(June 27, 2017 8:36 pm)
Dollars and Sense: Advertising Malay Modernity 1920s-1960s
(May 20, 2017 8:41 pm)
Mass Grave of The May Thirteenth Riot in Sungai Buloh Leprosarium
(May 13, 2017 8:50 pm)
As We See It: History through Visual Design
(May 8, 2017 8:42 am)
Visible Signs: A Brief Exploration of Visual Language
(March 9, 2017 10:48 am)
Design Periods
1850 to 1942 : Modernization
Graphic design was used by the British as part of their strategy to expand its powerful enterprise, which resulted in the development of graphic design as a marketing tool.
1942 to 1945 : Aesthetic Prejudices
Period of Japanese occupation in Malaya had a defining impact on the handling of graphic arts, where all forms of printed media were turned into Japanese propaganda.
1945 to 1957 : New National Identity
Malaya went back into the hands of the British, which led to a new fervor for nationalism.
1957 onwards : New Malaya / Malaysia
While still without a graphic style to characterize ‘Malaysian design’, we can begin to unravel the threads of influences through the choices of imagery and symbolism that were articulated.