KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 14 -- Long before rooftop cocktail lounges and commercial megaclubs defined the capital's entertainment circuit, Kuala Lumpur's underground dance subculture thrived in the most unexpected corners of the urban landscape, from prison cellblocks and airport runways to rainforest valleys.

Those formative, boundary-pushing years are being brought back to life at Night Shift: When KL Went Out, an archival exhibition hosted inside the industrial grounds of APW Bangsar.

Curated by DJ and music producer Roshan Menon alongside veteran promoter and selector Callen Tham, the retrospective chronicles how the city's early electronic music community responded to a strict 1am entertainment curfew imposed in 1997, an official restrict...