With the Economic Transformation Programme by the Malaysian government to turn Malaysia into a high income economy by the year of 2020, there lies opportunities for Malaysian companies and talents to build network chains beyond the shores and form global partnerships and cooperatives. The Malaysian government has gradually paid more attention to the voices of the nation’s fellow citizens initiatives and a shift of mindset for “a better Malaysia”. Taiwan, for example, is a country that has shown consistent efforts, year in and year out, in the preservation of culture and art as well as the cultivation of young and artistic talents. They do this by becoming host to major international design exhibitions and art events in their country every year. These creative platforms that they’ve built over the years are highly recognised by the worldwide community of art and design and have helped produce many excellent product designs under this well-incubated environment.
Of course, this is just one of the many examples when it comes to the successful implementation of a national agenda. Undoubtedly, the advantage would be on our side if we open our minds to learn a thing or two from a country like Taiwan. This year, Taiwan goes forward and out into the Malaysian borders for a very interesting project. In addition to gaining a deep understanding of Malaysia’s multicultural background and industrial ecology, the Bilateral Design Exchange Forum can further expand Taiwan’s international presence and open up more opportunities for international cooperation in the future.
Starting from the end of September 2019, the “Taiwan x Malaysia Bilateral Design Exchange Forum”, organised by KF, Hans Lin and partners, will hold a design talk at G.Space, Taipei on September 28th, and another talk at Mano Thinking, Kuala Lumpur on October 12th and 13th. Co-organised by YOTTA, YOTTA is Taiwan’s cross-disciplinary online course platform, actively exploring innovative programmes for multiple education models and providing online learning services in a comprehensive curriculum. CUTOUT and Motioner serve on the board as media partner whereas G.Space and Mano Thinking are the forum’s official venue partners. CUTOUT is a popular design magazine from Malaysia which builds content around graphic design, pop culture, and everything in between.
With “impression” and “learning” as the main themes of the “Taiwan x Malaysia Bilateral Design Exchange Forum”, the organisers hope to see design communication can enhance bilateral understanding of each other’s culture and design, and thus encourage art and cultural workers and creatives to participate in more cross-border cooperation projects.
The first series of events will be held in the form of a forum, which will be divided into two sections. In the first half of the section, the designer from Malaysia will give a speech while the second half of the section will have a design dialogue between two invited designers and a Q&A session. Starting first in Taipei, invited speakers include Malaysian graphic designer Jay Lim and Taiwanese graphic designer Yin-Zhuo Wang. In Kuala Lumpur, there will be two sessions; the first session will have Taiwanese motion graphics designer Hans Lin and Malaysian motion graphics designer Jim Chuah, while the second session will have Taiwanese graphic designer Cheng-Jie Sung and Malaysian graphic designer Magdalene Wong.
There is a saying that you throw out a brick to attract a jade. That’s exactly what the “Taiwan x Malaysia Bilateral Design Exchange Forum” is about. It is with a hope that more units will join in the future to further the conversations on cross-cultural bilateral design as active participants. The ideal scenario would be to bridge the gap between Taiwan and Malaysia by streamlining the design discussions and providing more opportunities for cooperation in the areas of art, culture, and design.
1. Bilateral Design Exchange Forum — Taiwan (Main Stop)
Topic | Impressions of Design
Speakers | Jay Lim _ TSUBAKI STUDIO (Malaysia)
王胤卓_Elephant Design (Taiwan)
Host |林旂鋒_ A Malaysian graphic designer based in Taiwan for ten years
Date | 28 Sep 2019 (Sat)
Time | 2:00PM – 5:00PM
Venue | G.Space, Taipei.
2. Bilateral Design Exchange Forum — Kuala Lumpur (First Stop)
Topic | The Learning Path of Design (Dynamic Design)
Speakers | 林思翰_ G.Production (Taiwan)
Jim Chuah_FNL PRJCT Co-founder (Malaysia)
Host | 林旂鋒_ A Malaysian graphic designer based in Taiwan for ten years
Date | 12 Oct 2019 (Sat)
Time | 2:00PM – 5:00PM
Venue | Mano Thinking, Kuala Lumpur.
3. Bilateral Design Exchange Forum — Kuala Lumpur (Second Stop)
Topic | The Learning Path of Design (Graphic Design)
Speakers | 宋政傑_Freelance Designer (Taiwan)
Magdalene_Where’s gut? Founder (Malaysia)
Host | 林旂鋒_ A Malaysian graphic designer based in Taiwan for ten years
Date | 13 Oct 2019 (Sun)
Time | 2:00PM – 5:00PM
Venue | Mano Thinking, Kuala Lumpur.