Monday, September 30, 2013

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.

01. Penang's Art Street
#1: Random mural in front of the main gate of the bicycle shop who gave us the map at Armenian Street

01-1. Penang's Art Street
#1.1: "Lion dance" mural 

01-2. Penang's Art Street
#1.2: Beautiful mural we stumbled upon

01-3. Penang's Art Street
#1.3: Snail mural

02. Penang's Art Street
#2: “Reaching Up” mural along Cannon Street - painted by Ernest Zacharevi

02-1. Penang's Art Street
#2:1: Another random artwork at Cannon Street

04. Penang's Art Street
#4: "Newly Wed" mural at Acheh Street

05. Penang's Art 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.

06. Penang's Art Street
#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

07. Penang's Art Street
#7: "I Can Help Catch Rats" mural at Armenian Street

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

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

10. Penang's Art Street
#10: "Skippy, the giant Cat" mural at Armenian Street Ghaut.

11. Penang's Art Street
#11: "Please Care & Bathe Me" mural

12. Penang's Art Street
#12: "Love Me Like Your Fortune Cat" mural along Armenian Street Ghaut

15. Penang's Art Street
#15: "Shade Me If You Love Me" artwork along Victoria Street

15-1. Penang's Art Street
#15.1: We were being told that this is the latest mural.

15-2. Penang's Art Street
#15.2:"Old Master Q" mural in one of the alley of Victoria Street

16. Penang's Art Street
#16: "Amah & Asoon" mural located at the entrance of Chew Jetty

17. Penang's Art Street
#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. Penang's Art Street
#17.1: This kung-fu minion mural located just nearby the "Brother and Sister Swing" mural

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

19. Penang's Art Street
#19: “Boy on a Bike” mural at Ah Quee Street - painted by Ernest Zacharevi

20. Penang's Art Street
#20: "Bruce Lee's cat" mural

20-1. Penang's Art Street
#20.1: "Our Art is Dying" mural is incomplete

21. Penang's Art Street
#21:"Bee doo bee doo minion" mural situated at Ah Quee street.

21-1. Penang's Art Street
#21.1: Located just opposite of the above minion mural

22. Penang's Art Street
#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:

DSC09642 Penang
#23: "This Old Man" mural on the wall of a shophouse facing Armenian Street. Apparently, no one noticed about this mural at all.

DSC09689 Penang
#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:

DSC09643 Penang
#25: Then & Now of Coppersmith Street

DSC09548 Penang
#26: Rock Candy

DSC09545 Penang
#27: Where's My Husband?

DSC09543 Penang
#28: 5 Star Budget Hotel

DSC09500 Penang
#29: Hand-Pulled Rickshaw

Steel Sculptures 01
#30: Steel sculptures are dotted all over around this UNESCO World Heritage Site

Steel Sculptures 02
#31: More and more. There are plenty of them.

Penang Street Arts.jpeg
#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,

21 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Wow, I like all of your street art photos..nice!
    I want the map.
    Email: surveyfoo@hotmail.com
    Thanks.

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  3. Totally love this! Looks like you've found a lot more of these beautiful street art than I did the last time I was in Penang.

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  4. Hope they will continue to touch up the murals.

    The 22. Little blue girl rather scary looking . I wouldnt wanna look at that in the night :p

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  5. haha! mesti yg minions semua yg terbaru.

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  6. Where is the photo #1.2 located? As for photo #9, it was easy to find and one of my favourite!

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    1. #1.2 is located in between Armenian Street and Soo Hong Lane.

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  7. gorgeous street photos... love it.. thanks for sharing.

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  8. wahlau..u really clear all the street art ar? i have never even started at all...hehehe

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  9. Heard that some of the murals were ruined, is it true?

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  10. Wah, I've only seen couple of them! They're so beautiful!

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  11. I was born in Penang but have left the island for a long time. i always need to hear updates of the place and food from bloggers like you. I am amazed that they have added so many new drawings and murals as seen in your post. Thank you so much for sharing all these interesting photos!!!

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  12. Is there anywhere I can get the map before I visit there?

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    1. Hi, Jeannie Toh! If you want the map, you can message me at dianateodt@gmail.com and I will email you the map. =)

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  13. Would you mind sending me the maps at jiejie_jj@hotmail.com?
    So do you have to travel to all the wall art places by cab?

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  14. Would you mind sharing the map to my mail : james_lun@hotmail.com

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  15. Pls share me the map at: meiqing20@gmail.com
    Thanks :)

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  16. Nice post :) I read it with a huge interest and it was worth reading. Thanks for posting it :)
    wall painting

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  17. I really enjoyed while reading your blog post. Having read it I am also interested to develop such type of creative designs. Can you help me to start? Wall Decal Quotes

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