Street art is all over Penang but many are in George Town! Hence, hunting for these murals is a common item to check of many travellers’ bucket lists.
We’ll cover the original Ernest Zacharevic paintings as well as others outside of the heritage zone.
And if you don’t have much time in Penang, there are places with a higher concentration of lovely street art that you can visit!
History
So, when did street art in Penang become so famous?
With the condensed history below, you’ll see that the local council encouraged the spread of murals through Penang after the initial success of Ernest Zacharevic!
2008: Penang received its listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
2009: Penang government held an international competition “Marking George Town” to rebrand the heritage area of George Town. Won by SCULPTUREATWORK for their Welden Iron Wall Caricatures.
2012: The art project by the local council, “Mirrors George Town” gave Ernest Zacharevic worldwide recognition for his 6 incredible street art murals during the 2012 George Town Festival in Penang.
2013: Another project, “101 Lost Kittens” by ASA (Artists for Stray Animals) added 12 new paintings to George Town to raise awareness for stray animals.
2014: Hin Bus Depot Art Center and Urban Nation co-organized Urban Xchange: Crossing Over – an international street art festival! A notable artist who partook in the project was Yulia Volchkova!
2018: Art Lane Penang by China House was opened to the public!
There are 3 notable artists whose works you can see in Penang:
- Ernest Zacharevic – A Lithuanian-born artist that employs fine art techniques into his street art paintings. He has many paintings in Penang and Ipoh.
- Yulia Volchkova – A Russian artist who did several large wall murals in Penang. And even in Kuala Lumpur!
- Louis Gan – Being deaf-mute did not discourage this self-taught local artist! With a preference for watercolor techniques, he has a few paintings in Penang.
Welden Iron Wall Caricatures
These didn’t quite catch the attention of the world like street paintings did.
But George Town has 52 intricate iron structures as art pieces by Malaysian sculpture studio, SCULPTUREATWORK.
The sculptures are caricatures of a common theme “voices from the people”. This idea won the international competition, Marking George Town in 2009.
We’ve listed 15 of the 52 iron structures here – we’ve yet to see all of them ourselves!
- A Trishaw
- Jimmy Choo
- Win Win Situation
- Narrowest Five Foot Away
- Bullock Cart Wheel
- Cheating Husband
- Tok Tok Mee
- Ting Ting Thong
- Labourer To Trader
- Kopi ‘O’
- Three Generations
- No Plastic Bag
- Untrained Parakeet
- Cow & Fish
- Cannon Hole
- Kandar
Street Art By Ernest Zacharevic
Can’t talk about street art without first covering the ones by Ernest Zacharevic! These are what started the trend of street art murals in Malaysia!
1. Kung Fu Girl (The Little Girl In Blue)
A giant mural of a young girl dressed in blue on the side of a building beside Penang Ta Kam Hong on Muntri Street in George Town.
She appears to be lifting herself up with her hands on the tops of two windows for support.
2. Penang Street Art Bicycle – Kids On Bicycle
No doubt one of his most popular murals, Kids On Bicycle utilizes a real bicycle fixed against the wall with a mural of 2 kids riding it with glee.
There’s usually a queue of Instagrammers in front of this mural!
3. Boy On Chair
Unfortunately, this mural of a little boy reaching up while standing on a chair is now next to an unsightly construction site after the owner was told to demolish an illegal structure there.
The mural itself is still in good shape and you can have a look at it some 200m away from Kids On A Bicycle.
4. Boy On Motorbike
Despite showing some signs of fade, people still queue up at Lebuh Ah Quee to have a photo with this mural!
It is of a boy in an oversized helmet riding on a real vintage motorbike! Parts of the motorbike like the seat, have been replaced after years of weather damage.
Note: Go early in the morning to avoid the long queues!
5. Little Boy With Pet Dinosaur
It looks like this mural is chasing the previous mural if you stand across from them!
This cheeky painting on an exposed brick wall has a little boy holding back his “pet dinosaur” on a leash.
The dinosaur has the look of being hand-drawn by a young child adding to the charm of the painting!
6. Trishaw Man
Arguably the largest of all Ernest’s paintings, the Trishaw Man spans the entire wall of a building opposite the car park of a hawker center (Red Garden Food).
It shows an elderly man sitting in the cab of his trishaw, perhaps waiting for customers.
Tip: If taking the Penang CAT bus, get off Bus Stop 7
7. Fisherman’s Children / Folklore By The Sea Mural
Spot this long mural at the side of a house at Chew Jetty, one of the clan jetties of Penang!
Children In A Boat (as it is otherwise known as) depicts 2 kids in a boat with a cat.
Depending on the level of the tide, the boat may be out of the water or floating on the water!
Other Street Art
These beautiful paintings are worth a gander too!
8. Siblings On A Swing
This mural makes use of a physical swing with 2 seats.
One of them is left as it is, while the other has a painting of a smiling boy and girl standing on the seat!
Artist: Louis Gan
9. Boy Playing Basketball
To be fair, it’s 2 children playing basketball where the hoop and ball are real.
Be creative with where you stand, and then it’ll look like you’re playing the game with them too!
Artist: Louis Gan
10. Old Indian Woman
Underneath the roots of a tree in a quiet back lane is a larger than life-size painting of an old Indian woman with her hands clasped together in a plea or prayer.
Artist: Yulia Volchkova
11. The Indian Boatman
This is Yulia’s second painting in George Town. The painting at Stewart Lane features an old Indian man standing on a boat with an oar in his hands.
Artist: Yulia Volchkova
12. Child Mural At Prangin Canal
Hidden in another quiet alleyway at Prangin Canal, this mural of a boy biting his shirt collar is Yulia’s first painting in Penang!
Artist: Yulia Volchkova
13. The Girl With Tree Hair
The Girl With Tree Hair is a striking minimalistic mural of a girl with tree branches for hair on a white building on Chulia Street.
Birds can be seen flying away from the branches.
Artist: Vexta
14. Dancing Girl
This black and white mural is right above an archway on Stewart Lane.
15. Tribute To Firemen
By the side of the firefighters’ building (Central Fire Station) are several murals of firefighters. One shows a pair of firefighters in the midst of taking out a fire.
16. Thaipusam
There’s a large colorful mural not far from Little India. You can see it from the traffic light intersection across from the Central Fire Station.
101 Lost Kittens
Like cats? There are 12 murals just of cats around Penang!
These were painted by Thai artist, Nathhapon Muangkliang and 2 Malaysian artists, Tang Yeok Khang and Louise Low! These murals have a noble purpose to create awareness for stray animals!
I Can Help Catch Rats
A reminder of the age-old benefit of having a cat around!
Love Me Like Your Fortune Cat
Japanese lucky cats (maneki-neko) frame a hopeful grey tabby cat which suggests that the message behind the painting is that stray cats need all the luck they can get to find a home.
Here are other cat-related murals that we haven’t seen yet:
- Skippy Comes To Penang (Can no longer be seen)
- Please Care And Bath Me
- Cats And Humans Happily Living Together
- Cats Walking For Animal Awareness
- Real Bruce Lee Would Never Do This
- Even Handicapped Still Love Me
- Shade Me If You Love Me
- Take Time To Sit With Your Pet
- No Animal Discrimination Please
- Fine 500 For Littering, Sterilize Instead
Street Art At Balik Pulau
On the other side of the island (an hour’s drive from George Town) in the rural town of Balik Pulau are even more phenomenal street art!
A handful of them are by Yulia Volchkova!
- Roti Man – Andhar A. Samah
- Hakka Dancing Girl – Yulia Volchkova
- The Silat Master – Yulia Volchkova
- Old Fisherman – Yulia Volchkova
- Rubber Tapping – Yulia Volchkova
Shipping Container Art
As part of a series “Penang Place”:
10 impressive container installations made for the Penang Container Art Festival (PICAF) 2020 will be around from January to end of May 2020.
They were painted by 12 artists from many countries – Malaysia, Russia, Ukraine, The Netherlands and Canada.
Utilizing containers as high as 12m stacked either vertically or horizontally!
You can find them at these 5 locations:
1. Dataran Pemuda Merdaka, Butterworth
Penang’s Fisherman – Artist: Judith de Leeuw (Denmark)
Mencanting Batik (Batik Painting) – Artists: Abdulrashade (Penang) and Andharas (Malacca)
2. Prangin Mall, George Town
The Trishaw Rider – Artist: Sasha Korban (Ukraine)
Tribute to the late Chuah Thean Teng – Artist: Bibichun (Penang)
3. Karpal Singh Drive, Jelutong
Hope for the Future – Artist: Yulia Volchkova (Russia)
4. Kampung Terang, Balik Pulau
The Joy of Harvest – Artists: Leonard Siaw and Aries Kong / Jagung (Both from Sarawak)
Once at Balik Pulau’s Street Market – Artist: Marat Danilyan (Russia)
5. Aspen Vision City, Batu Kawan
Offshore – Artist: Emmanuel Jarus (Canada)
Connection – Artist: Caryn Koh (Kuala Lumpur)
Map
But where exactly are these street art?
Use the map below to find the all the paintings listed in this post!
Conclusion
Penang street art is impressive in terms of quantity and quality! It’s not surprising to see folks line up too take photos of the murals by Ernest Zacharevic!
See them for yourself as you wander around George Town! The reach of street art extends as far as Balik Pulau too!
More things to do in Penang
What else is there to do besides hunt down street murals? See our suggestions for things to do in Penang! Some are free!
Things to do in Penang (Kid-Friendly Places)
Check out these things to do in Penang with kids if you’re out of ideas on how to keep the little ones occupied.
Little India
Little India has some street murals too. See where to find them and explore what else there is to see in this vibrant part of Penang with our dedicated post.
Penang Cafes
There’s always seems to be a nice, air-conditioned café around the corner when you’re on the hunt for street murals. Here are some of our favorite cafes to visit In Penang!
