Penang's Art Street, Wall Paintings & Steel Sculptures

Date of Visit: 15th & 16th September 2013

What attract both local and foreign visitors to visit Penang is to witness the delightful fusion of the East and West that rich in history and culture and also for its bewildering arrays of mouth-watering eats. That's what for my past trip but currently, what attract me the most was for its vibrant showcase of these unique and beautifully painted art street, wall paintings and steel sculpture across the heritage area of George Town city.

Thanks to London-trained Lithuanian artist, Ernest Zacharevic who started off of these amazing and creative ideas by painting these colourful murals within the inner city and later, his footsteps followed by the local artists and cartoonists which helped to generate awareness of the rich history of the streets. 

Playing hide and seek with these colourful art street and wall paintings was indeed very fun and fascinating but make sure to do some homework beforehand or the best suggestion, grab a map to know where the arts are in order to save time and also reduce the chances of missing out some of these art. We're lucky enough to meet some helpful and friendly local people who gave us maps while we're in the mode of hunting for these arts.

#1: Random mural in front of the main gate of the bicycle shop who gave us the map at Armenian Street

#1.1: "Lion dance" mural 

#1.2: Beautiful mural we stumbled upon

#1.3: Snail mural

#2: “Reaching Up” mural along Cannon Street - painted by Ernest Zacharevi

#2:1: Another random artwork at Cannon Street

#4: "Newly Wed" mural at Acheh Street

#5: Minions painted on a concrete traffic bollard in Soo Hong Lane, off Armenian Street. Penang "lang" are indeed crazy about these minions. Minions merchandises are being selling anywhere around the town.

#6: "No Animal Discrimination Please" mural at one of the small alley of Soo Hong Lane - This is part of 101 Lost Kittens project to create awareness over the issue of helping fnd home for stray animals

#7: "I Can Help Catch Rats" mural at Armenian Street

#8: “Little Children on a Bicycle” mural at Armenian Street - One of the popular and famous mural that almost everyone looking for.

#9: "Cats & Humans Happily Living Together" mural at Pantai Street. This one not easily spotted.

#10: "Skippy, the giant Cat" mural at Armenian Street Ghaut.

#11: "Please Care & Bathe Me" mural

#12: "Love Me Like Your Fortune Cat" mural along Armenian Street Ghaut

#15: "Shade Me If You Love Me" artwork along Victoria Street

#15.1: We were being told that this is the latest mural.

#15.2:"Old Master Q" mural in one of the alley of Victoria Street

#16: "Amah & Asoon" mural located at the entrance of Chew Jetty

#17: "Brother and Sister on a Swing" mural at Chulia Street Ghaut. The lane is now called Step by Step Lane. It was painted by a talented local Penang artist, Louis Gan who is hearing impaired.

#17.1: This kung-fu minion mural located just nearby the "Brother and Sister Swing" mural

#18: My favourite photo - "Children Playing Basketball" mural Chulia Street Ghaut. It was also painted by Louis Gan.

#19: “Boy on a Bike” mural at Ah Quee Street - painted by Ernest Zacharevi

#20: "Bruce Lee's cat" mural

#20.1: "Our Art is Dying" mural is incomplete

#21:"Bee doo bee doo minion" mural situated at Ah Quee street.

#21.1: Located just opposite of the above minion mural

#22: “Little Girl in Blue” mural at Muntri Street

It took us two days to hunt for all these murals around the street and not all the murals we managed to spot cause they were dotted all over the place. The best time to hunt for all these murals is as early as you can cause besides to avoid the scorching hot sun, you might need to queue up in order to pose with these murals as there will be lots of other tourists who will be there for the same reason. If you haven't visit any of these yet, better be hurry cause some of the murals seems to be faded away. It's kinda sad when I bumped into few of them and they were not really clear to be seen, such as the following:

#23: "This Old Man" mural on the wall of a shophouse facing Armenian Street. Apparently, no one noticed about this mural at all.

#24: "Children in a Boat" mural - totally faded away in Chew Jetty

Besides the above murals, Sculpture at Work, the company involved in the creation of the steel-rod sculptures, pooled together a team of creative minds and local cartoonists to design quirky caricatures to decorate the city's walls by sharing the scenes of life in Penang. Here are some of the steel sculptures which I stumbled upon:

#25: Then & Now of Coppersmith Street

#26: Rock Candy

#27: Where's My Husband?

#28: 5 Star Budget Hotel

#29: Hand-Pulled Rickshaw

#30: Steel sculptures are dotted all over around this UNESCO World Heritage Site

#31: More and more. There are plenty of them.

#32: The map given by the local. Only the murals are being shared but not the steel sculptures.

If any of you would like to have this map, you are welcome to leave your email in the comment box or email me at dtdianateo@gmail.com.

[Credit To: Penang Travel Tips, Gallery - Time Out Penang,