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“MURAL”VELLOUS PENANG STREET ART.
If you see a huge crowd making a beeline in George Town
during weekends, don’t be mistaken. It is neither a K-pop
concert ticket sale nor a Hollywood star meet-the-fan
session. It is tourists lining up to take a snapshot of wall
murals. Rare, isn’t it? Well, that is exactly what you will find
when you stroll along the streets of George Town in
Penang.
Tourists keep themselves busy striking a pose with the “Little
Children on a Bicycle” wall mural in Armenian Street, or cheekily sit
on the bike of the “Boy on a Bike” mural at Ah Quee Street. Above
all, they can’t get enough of the craze of Despicable Me. You will
hear the ladies exclaiming, “So cute!” as they snap pictures and hug
the cute Minions painted on a concrete traffic bollard.
Today, Penang’s street art is one of the key reasons for tourists to
visit George Town, a UNESCO World Heritage City. It all started
when the Penang municipal council commissioned a London-trained
Lithuanian artist, Ernest Zacherevic to lead the street art project
entitled “Mirror George Town” in conjunction with George Town
Festival 2012.
The project aimed to transform the streets of George Town into an
open-air art gallery that can be admired as visitors explore the
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heritage enclave. The murals consisting of figure drawings and
portraits celebrate the multiculturism and diversity of the community,
the living heritage of George Town.
These murals such as “Little Girl in Blue”, “Little Children on a
Bicycle”, “Boy on a Bike”, “Little Boy with Pet Dinasour”, “The
Awaiting Trishaw Peddlar”, “Broken Heart” , “Reaching Up” and
“Children in a Boat” have brought new lease of life to some of the
pre-colonial shophouses around the inner city.
According to Ernest, he drew the inspiration of his murals from his
own experience, “The city is very inspiring. It had a huge impact on
me and my everyday life. The community there, the experiences,
and the architecture, it was very natural.” In fact, some of the people
painted in his murals are real people living in George Town.
The project was obviously a success as these wall mural areas had
turned into thriving tourist destinations and a conversation piece
among the locals and tourists alike.
Beautifying George Town: From murals to sculptures.
Apart from the wall murals, caricature steel sculptures or dioramas
also lit up the street art scene in Penang. About fifty steel sculptures
have graced the streetscapes of George Town by the end of 2013.
These caricatures are witty and depict the lifestyl e of the early
immigrants of George Town in the 20 th century. The concept was
inspired by the voices of Penangites who could relate well to the
humourous stories behind the caricatures, from how the streets got
their funny nicknames to the daily scenes of the community back then.
One cannot help but to laugh at the images of labourers skillfully carrying
wares on their heads, a cow running helter-skelter from the slaughterhouse, a
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servant kicking up a fuss, multi-tasking or a rich man hiding himself outside
the window to avoid being caught for having a mistress!
Other caricatures include the Tok Tok Mee seller at China Street, a
Procession sculpture on Armenian Street, the Ah Quee sculpture in honour of
Kapitan Chung Keng Kwee, one of the wealthiest men in George Town during
the 19th century, the funny Cannon Hole Sculpture displaying the peddlar of
the trishaw fell on a manhole, leaving his passenger frustrated; and
the
caricature of Sir Francis Light with a local guy depicting the
evolution of Chulia Street, from a main street largely for a South
Indian community in the past to a backpacker haven today.
If you are a fashionista, you may be surprised to know the worldrenowned footwear couturier, Jimmy Choo was born in Penang, and
a sculpture of him is located at Leith Street.
From a city of murals to a favourite tourist destination.
While Ernest Zacharevic has set the pace to transforming George
Town
into
a
city
of
murals,
local
artists
have
also
been
commissioned to create new wall murals. Louis Gan Yee Loong
created the cute “Children on a Swing” and “Children playing
Basketball” at Chulia Street Ghaut.
A series of cat murals, such as “The Giant Cat”, “101 Lost Kittens”,
“No Animal Discrimination Please” and more were created by a
group of artists from Artists for Stray Animals (ASA). One mural that
catches the attention of passers-by is definitely the Giant Rat mural
next to the Giant Cat. It cheekily displays the Rat hiding itself from
the Cat! That is not all. A stone’s throw away is a mural showing the
late Bruce Lee kicking some cats. Sounds controversial? No. The
mural was named, “The Real Bruce Lee Would Never Do This!” as
part of ASA efforts to promote non-cruelty to animals.
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To further showcase George Town multiculturism, the “Wo Ai Ni (I
love you) Chinese, Malay Indian” mural features the three dominant
races in traditional dance costumes.
Next to this mural is a giant mural featuring a boy speaking Penang
Hokkien dialect which is spoken by the Chinese majority in Penang.
The mural painted in purple by Jim Oo Chun Hee and John Cheng
features the Romanised Hokkien expression,
“Kah Lu Kong
Hokkien” (Teach you speak Hokkien). At the base of this mural are
10 concrete drain covers with words like “Gui Lui” (How much
money?), “Chiak Pa Bui” (Have you eatan?) and “Chui Ta” (Thirsty).
Beyond the George Town heritage enclave at Magazine Road is a
50.3-metre long wall. Under “The Great Wall of Penang” project, the
wall murals depict the Goddess of Mercy Temple, the Penang Port
and other Penang landmarks. Then, far away at Jalan Sultan Azlan
Shah is a wall mural that pays tribute to the King of Malay
Entertainment, the late Tan Sri P. Ramlee.
Apart from it, a dilapidated bus station has been turned into an open
art gallery - the Hin Bus Depot Art Centre. This gallery is set up
based on the concept that “one man’s rubbish is another man’s
treasure” where it features murals and recycled items, such as old
paint buckets, furniture and oil drums and turned them into art
pieces. Among them are boys with cones on their heads, martial arts
girl, human-sized Lego figures and paintings of Penangites and
packets of local drinks like “Teh Tarik” and “Kopi O”.
Finding the locations of these murals is as exciting as a treasure
hunt. For Pamela Lee and her husband, Simon Luker from London,
their vacation in Penang is truly a memorable one. “We came here
to enjoy the beaches but ended up hunting for the murals as well. It
is fun to explore and pose with the murals!”
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All in all, Penang is more than just an island with heritage sites,
beautiful beaches, tantalizing cuisines . It has beautiful art scenes
that best illustrate the life of Penangites.
As “Yahoo! Travel” once put it, “Penang is one of the top 10 islands
to explore before you die”. We welcome you to see for yourself the
“mural”vellous beauty. Make Penang your next holiday destination.
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For more information or enquiries, please contact Visit Malaysia Year 2014
Secretariat, at 03-8891 7000 or log on to www.vmy2014.com
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