In the late 18th century a British captain by the name Francis Light landed on the Malay island of Penang. He had the vision to develop a swampy area of the island to be a thriving trading port, but never in his wildest dreams he could have ever imagined that at a certain point in time, George Town would turn into a thriving tourist destination; courtesy of its exquisite street art!
One thousand Malay fishermen was the total number of people inhabiting the island of Penang when Light arrived. Soon, and after development kickstarted, George Town’s population is said to have rocketed to 10,000; mostly immigrants. George Town is one of those places where there is a dominated Indian neighborhood that goes by the name Little India. And likewise, there is Chinatown. But in Penang those defining ethnical, religious, and even cultural lines are blurred. Go for a stroll in Chinatown and the distinctive Muslim call of prayer will be heard, while the sight of traditional Chinese temple in the middle of Little India is far from being uncommon. Courtesy of this long history of being a melting cosmopolitan pot, with all the associated distinct footprints of culture, architecture and heritage, George Town was declared a UNESCO heritage site in 2008.
The town’s singular history is certainly enough of a magnet to attract tourists, but George Town Festival had more in mind.
The one month long festival celebrates art in its many and various forms, from theatrical performances to public art installations. In 2012, Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic was commissioned to create a public art project named “Mirrors of George Town”. Over a period of three months Ernest painted six walls. Ernest murals depicted day-to-day life in George Town, and they were mostly murals that combined 2D paintings with 3D real life objects. Take for example, one of his collection’s most famous pieces “Reaching Up”. “Reaching Up” depicts a boy standing on a chair trying to reach something in a hole. While the boy is indeed a painting, everything else is a real life object: the chair, the thing he is reaching for which is often a paper cup but changes when worn out, as well as the hole. Ernest adapted the same concept throughout most of his collection. Don’t miss out on his superb piece depicting a young man squatting on a motorbike. Again the young man is a painting, while the motorbike is a real one.
Ernest work was publicly accepted and widely praised. In fact, Ernest’s “Mirrors of George Town” opened the door for an array of artists to come and paint the walls of George Town, as well as hordes of tourists who travel from far afield just to have a glimpse of the town’s street art. Join one of the organized walking tours that zigzag the town’s alleyways following graffiti and murals, or go solo if you like to have your time and follow your own pace; just don’t forget to pick up a map of George Town (marking the town’s street art locations) from Penang international airport or from any tourist information office.
In addition to independent artists who paid George Town a visit and left their marks on the walls, there were also a number of street art projects, initiatives and annual festivals. Among them is ‘101 Lost Kittens’, a collection of 12 murals by Thai artist Natthapon Muangkliang and Malaysian artists Louise Low and Tang Yeok Khang. All 12 pieces include cats as part of the depictions, as it intended to raise awareness toward stray animals. Another example is the annual Urban Exchange that took place in 2014 and 2015. A graffiti art festival that invites artists from all over the world to come and show their skills, Urban Exchange comes with a more contemporary touch to it. Marking George Town is indeed another fine example of a public art initiative, this time commissioned by Penang Tourism Board. Each of Marking George Town 52 rod structures comes with a caricature like installation accompanied with a line or two shedding some light on George Town’s history. It is like a pectoral anecdote that somehow transforms George Town into an open museum where you stop to have a look at the witty art installation, read the informative text, and learn something new about the place you are visiting. A pretty novel and out-of-the-box idea if you want my opinion.
Being a street art aficionado, George Town for me is like a playground where I keep on hoping from one graffiti to another. And the place doesn’t fall short of them; in front of many murals you will often find a queue of tourists waiting to snap a picture or a selfie for the social media. Nevertheless, if you want to know my absolute favorites out of the whole collections, then this is what I loved the most: “I want Bao!”. It is located next to a pastry shop and depicts a boy and girl peeking from a house window as they try to reach the bun steamers on a nearby bicycle. If you actually peep into the bun steamers from top you will actually find painted bao! The other one is “Brother and Sister on a Swing”. As the name implies, it depicts a boy and a girl on a swing. While the boy is looking at you (when you face the mural) with a playful childish smile, the girl is looking to the empty swing next to her with the cutest smile ever. It is a work of the deaf-mute freelance artist Louise Gan, and for me it represents the innocence of life; something we often miss to notice in our day to day hectic lives.
George Town: A tourist magnet for street art
George Town: A tourist magnet for street art
