“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 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 lifestyle of the early immigrants of George Town in the 20th 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 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 world-renowned 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.

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!”

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.