[Malaysia Report] Georgetown, a lifeful ‘mirroring art street’

One of my favorite murals, the children’s expressions are so real, natural and cute. The interesting part is that the bike is real; it is a perfect match as the children look alive.

Penang is an island off that northwestern coast of Penisular Malaysia, which has nice beaches though a little lackluster when compared to some other states in Malaysia. Penang is rich with multicultural histories of Malay, Chinese, Indian and European influences as well as known as “food paradise” of Malaysia. Georgetown is the capital city of Penang. According to the history, ‘Georgetown’ was named after King George III of Great Britain. Today, Penang has the highest population density in Malaysia, the only state to have a majority of ethnic Chinese and the third-largest economy state in Malaysia.

Apart from that, Penang especially Georgetown is a favorite spot for tourists as it retained many attractive pre-Second World War houses and shop houses over the city, as well as 19th century designed churches, temples, mosques and colonial buildings. Georgetown, inscribed as one of the historic cities of the Straits of Malacca, has also been declared a UNESCO heritage city in 2008 for its unique architectural and cultural townscape no where else to be found in East and Southeast Asia.

I come from middle part of Malaysia, so travelling to Penang will take 7 to 8 hours by car. To me, this is such a tiring and long journey. However, the most attractive point that encouraged me to travel the long hours to Penang was the murals that are painted in some of the Georgetown area since 2012. It is somehow different from the more abstract murals that can be seen in Western countries or tricky art in Korea. The murals in Penang are alive in the town and each artwork reflects the exuberance of life in the inner city and the murals seem to be telling the stories of the inner city, so real, catching people’s sight and touching their hearts. When I first heard about it, I used to think they were just normal murals, but when I saw pictures taken by my friend, I was amazed and fell in love with the murals in the pictures.

After that, I started to search online about Penang, Georgetown and the newly emerging murals. So, this is what the Georgetown murals were all about. These amazing murals artworks in Georgetown were painted by a young Lithuania-born artist named Ernest Zacharevic ‘making a scene’ on Georgetown‘s street. He turned the Georgetown selected street in the form of beautifully executed wall paintings or murals. This is known as Mirror George Town as one part of the Georgetown Festival in 2012.

The project is funded by Georgetown Festival while the painting part is sponsored by a paint company called Murobond. Without doubt, Ernest’s murals make Georgetown’s street become a new and amazing art street, bringing the art into life and becoming the part of this historical inner city. It has become a tourist’s hot spot when visiting Penang as one can enjoy the amazing murals, walk along the street and explore more shops along the way, experiencing the local cultural. The special and attractive part is that these murals connecting the town’s heritage building are everyday images of its inhabitants, evoking a sense while mirroring the life that still exists in Georgetown. Moreover, painted on an imperfect or crumbling building wall shows the most real, honest and down-to-earth integral part of the town’s feature.

The huge mural (Trishaw and the Paddler) was taken near the hotel I stayed at.

This picture of a trishaw man in real life waiting in Georgetown street looks like the picture of the mural I took above. (Photo: www.penang-traveltips.com)

According to recent news (The Star Online, June 1), 13 more paintings will be drawn on a 50.3m stretch of wall along Magazine Road of Georgetown, further cementing the image of the state capital known as city of murals and this project known as “Great Wall of Penang” which is going to depict Penang’s older days and what it will look like in the future. More than that, this time 3D elements will be included in the murals’ artwork and currently twelve 3D street art murals are going to make the conjunction with the Georgetown Festival 2013 from June 7 to July 7. This is really exciting to see the new different look of Georgetown Art Street. It has transformed the normal streets into more lively, whimsical, energetic and vibrant streets of the town.