Leyla Yenirce

The 1980s were a decade defined by paradoxes: the gleaming surface of pop culture and the deep fractures of global politics; the rise of new technologies and the slow unravelling of old ideologies; the birth of MTV and the shadow of Chernobyl. The exhibition Video Killed the Radio Star will explore how the cultural and political transformations of the 1980s still inform the world we live in today. Drawing from the Mudam Collection and contextual documentation materials, the exhibition will revisit a pivotal moment in global culture: a time when image overtook voice, access replaced ownership and aesthetics began to mirror power in new ways. It will also examine the evolving perceptiveness and sensibilities of a world moving into a hyper-mediated era. From the Cold War’s final acts to the rise of neoliberalism, the 1980s marked a profound reorientation in the Western world – one that was soon reshaped by the emergence of other cultural forces, shifting the narrative and changing the game entirely.