To Be Seen Campaign

To be seen is a campaign to celebrate the work of Malaysian women in art and design. Western design history canon is usually biased towards the achievements of men, with female designers rarely acknowledged for their contributions. In Malaysia, our design history and knowledge is even more sparse, although several organisations working to change it exist. In light of that, I thought it appropriate to highlight and document several women who are doing great things in the local art and design scene. This project aims to shed light on what contemporary designers are doing and hopefully inspire future artists and designers.

Rationale

For my project, I referenced a magazine published by Malay women in 1931 called Bulan Melayu. One of the first women's magazines written by and for women, it covered various topics to address women's roles in society. One particular cover struck me however, as it included an image of modern women working in different forms of enterprise.

Believing the spirit of the design to be similar to what I wanted, I illustrated a pastiche that became the project's hero image. This illustration is used on the book cover, poster and Facebook page. The book, available in print as a PDF accessible online, includes profiles of women I contacted, wrote about, and interviewed. In addition, the book includes a short section on resources existing in Malaysia, aimed at supporting aspiring Malaysian designers.

Ultimately, the book is hoped to encourage young designers, to let them have design heroes to call their own.

Acknowledgements

This book could not have been completed without the contributions of all the women featured within this book. Thank you for taking the time to participate in this project and producing insightful answers to questions about the Malaysian art and design scene.

I would also like to thank the Malaysia Design Archive, founded by Ezrena Marwan, for being an incredible resource for Malaysian artists and designers and a source of inspiration for this project!

The women who are featured in this book are as follows:

Charis Loke

Ellie Yong Sze Ching

Ezrena Marwan

Joanne Chew

Joanne Lew Vriethoff

Melisa Wong

Ming Ng Ai Beng

Reimena Yee

Sarah Joan Mohktar

Vivian Toh

To read the full e-book, click here.