We live in an increasingly visual world. Each day, we are inundated by streams of images, both new and old. Visual literacy provides us with the tools to understand these cultural phenomena.  In a nutshell, the study of visual culture is an image-based inquiry into our cultural history. It is based on the premise that these images and objects embody and reflect the beliefs and values of people who produced and used them. Such study requires critical analysis to help document and illuminate the contexts – social, economic, political, religious – in which these visual materials are produced and used.

The study of our visual history is therefore an interdisciplinary one. As a platform, MDA brings together writers, philosophers, architects, historians, urban researchers, sociologists, designers, artists in the process of collectively thinking through what this shared visual vocabulary was. Moreover, the history we write is always engaged with the present.

How can this knowledge of the past shape our understanding of what is going on around us today? Malaysia’s visual cultural history for the past 200 years is one of the most unique visual ecologies in the world. It is one of the most culturally diverse, and to map and understand this history, we are required to work collaboratively and through interdisciplinary means.

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The MDA Centre is located on the third floor of a new creative hub, The Zhongshan Building, which is  located in Kampung Attap, Kuala Lumpur. Housed in a newly refurbished 1950’s shop lot, MDA Centre is very close to Kuala Lumpur’s historic core. We will have artists, researchers, music historians, photographer, and other creative/geeky types as neighbours. Being a part of a larger creative community is an important part of our collaborative and interdisciplinary aims. The location is also very close to the monorail and easily accessible by a younger public who rely on public transportation to get around KL.

Malaysia Design Archive

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