Macau Designers Association

The Macau Designers Association (MDA) was founded on 18 May 1986. It is a professional and non-profit art and cultural association comprising graphic, product, interior and web designers, as well as commercial photographers, illustrators and other creative professionals. Over the past thirty years, MDA has been sparing no effort to fulfil the mission: ‘Unite Macao designers, protect their interest, enhance professionalism and facilitate external exchange’.

 

In 1994, when the modern concepts of design professions were not widely understood in Macao, MDA successfully held the 1st Macau Design Biennial – the first large integrated design competition in the city. The competition did not only stimulate the development of local design awareness, but also significantly improved the standard of local designs and discovered a group of distinguished local talent. In 2019, the Macau Design Biennial has been repositioned and officially renamed as the Macau Design Award, seeking to further expand the influence of its competition and exhibition as well as to raise the overall level of Macao’s design profession.

 

Meanwhile, MDA has been regularly organizing various design exhibitions and exchange activities, which received enthusiastic responses from designers both in Macao and from abroad, and created a good image among the design industries in the Greater China Area and in Asia. No longer does MDA serve merely as a local design association; it has evolved into an important regional organisation playing a positive role in China as well as in Asia.