When I see the topic of the Citystory photo contest hosted by @aaronli, I'm kind of lost in choices. It is "Street Art" this week. There are various forms of street art including graffiti, posters, sculptures, stickers, urban knitting, installations, etc.. Since I lived in Latin America, my eyes got used to a feast of colorful street murals from big cities to tiny towns. Even in the hidden gems underdogs like Belgium, there are creative street comics of Tintin's adventures. But I have to choose one from the numerous, so I'll first go for a type of unique Asian style -- the murals on a couple of back streets in Malacca, Malaysia.

Malaysia is a charming multicultural destination boasting Malay, Chinese, Indian and other cultures. I have visited a few places there and have always wanted to go back. I was surprised to see so many stunning street murals in cities like Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Ipoh and Malacca. Among those street art works, the best known one might be the mural in old town Penang -- "Brother & Sister on a Bicycle" painted by the Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic.

我看到这期的“城事影像”主题时，立马陷入选择困难症的泥沼 😆。 这周的主题是“街头艺术”，街头艺术形式多样，比如有涂鸦、海报、雕塑、贴纸、纺织装饰品、装置艺术等。光是涂鸦，这些年就见到太多，尤其是拉丁美洲那无处不在的街头壁画，大都色彩鲜艳、意象奇特、水平高超，以喷绘比较常见。就连比利时这种常被嘲笑无趣的欧洲小国，街头也有《丁丁历险记》的巨幅漫画涂鸦。 但这么多街头艺术，我选哪里来写呢？想想还是从咱们亚洲开始吧，今天就来介绍大马的马六甲一处东方风味浓郁的街头壁画。

马来西亚是个很有意思的国家，融汇了马来人、华人和印度人等的多元文化，从自然到美食都洋溢着南洋的热带风情。是一个我去了几次还总想再去的目的地。在那里时发现很多城镇的街头都闪耀或者暗藏着缤纷的涂鸦，比如首都吉隆坡、槟城、怡保、马六甲等。其中可能以槟城老城区的街头壁画最为闻名，立陶宛的艺术家恩尼斯特绘制的姐弟共骑单车的那幅画，每次经过都有游客在大排长龙等候合影。

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The street murals are also common in Malacca, this historical city rich in heritage buildings, ancient landmarks and colonial structures. With influences from different cultures like Portuguese, Dutch, British, Japanese, Javanese and Chinese ones, this is a great place to visit. I have to write about its amazing food too, but today let me first focus on the mural art. The most prominent mural art works here can be seen on both sides of the lovely canal.

And when I walked into a few small streets with my mom, I discovered more gems. :) Unlike the constant long line of visitors in front of the "Brother & Sister on a Bicycle", only us two were here. Look at the pictures I shot: these murals are so full of life -- working men and resting women, children and animals playing around, all vividly depicted in bright colors with a cheerful tone. It is fun to have a peek into the locals' life through these lively daily scenes. At the same time, the subjects in these paintings are reflecting the multi-culture feature of Malaysia.

马六甲的街头涂鸦也很普遍，尤其是运河两岸的建筑墙面上的书法和绘画作品很引人注目。受到葡萄牙、荷兰、英国、日本殖民以及爪洼、中华等文化的影响，这个以马六甲海峡著称的历史小城地方不大，却处处是古迹。走在那些古色古香的小巷弄间，时光仿佛都慢下了脚步~。

我带着母后逛到这条僻静的小街上，发现墙面上也有不少精致的壁画。这些写实风格的画面色调温暖、明亮欢快、生趣盎然，相较拉美流行的风格，少了份浓烈奔放，多了些质朴醇厚。那些干着体力活或脑力活的男人、窗口小憩的主妇、嬉戏玩耍的孩童，还有栩栩如生的动物们，无一不展现着真实自然的生活气息。而且涂鸦的主题和人物也和大马的国情一样，渗透着多元文化的因素。文化多元可能会带来种种问题，而这也正是它的迷人之处。

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Here are some more photos taken at the pretty streets nearby: cats are as common as graffiti:

附近的小巷是长这个样子的，很有味道对不对？除了街头壁画，喵星人也随处可见：

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I used the flower & wall picture I took here to make 2 headers in Chinese and in English. Though it's not easy to write on screen with fingertips, I just had too much fun in playing with it ;), so I made 4 ones (see another 2 above )with the post title and my signature. What do you think of them? Perhaps I should just hand-write post titles on my photo works in future? :D

我在给这面绿墙和红花拍的照片上写了几个字做封面，虽然用指尖在屏幕上写字不容易，但写上瘾了，一口气写了四张 ，哈哈哈~ 我是不是太神经了......😅 小伙伴们你们觉得这个主意怎么样？干脆我以后就直接在照片上写文章标题算了？

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It happened to be the Hungry Ghost Festival when I was at Malacca, so I witnessed some local ethnic Chinese preparing ritualistic food offerings, and burning incense and joss paper for the visiting spirits of their deceased ancestors.

在马六甲时正巧碰上七月半中元节（鬼节，佛教中的盂兰盆节），所以看到一些当地的华裔在为逝去的先祖准备贡品，还有焚烧香火纸钱之类的以祭奠亡灵。

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So that's it for today's post about the murals and some back streets in Malacca, Malaysia. Here are a few more posts I did before which are relevant to street art, check them out if interested 🙂:

今天关于马六甲街头壁画的介绍就先到这里，下面是些我以前写的跟街头涂鸦有关的旧帖：

• Caminito in Buenos Aires, Argentina 阿根廷首都的卡米尼托区

• Street Art & Sultan Mosque in Singapore 新加坡的街头涂鸦和苏丹清真寺

• Comuna 13 of Medellín, Colombia 哥伦比亚毒枭老巢的贫民窟

• Colorful Olinda, Brazil 巴西的多彩海滨小镇奥林达

^{All content by @itchyfeetdonica
图文 by Donica多}

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Thank you for reading. Please tell me what you think in the comments. Until next time! =)

感谢阅读！你的关注/点赞/留言/转发就是对我最好的支持~ 下次见！:)

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Here are some of my travel shots. Follow me for more adventures around the globe!

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!steemitworldmap 2.194086 lat 102.239658 long Malacca, Malaysia d3scr