TRAVEL MALAYSIA: Street Art in Penang

Author: @yasminep
Photos by: @joham and @yasminep

Besides it's glorious food, Penang is also famous for it's street art, which can be found scattered all around George Town and beyond. I'm the hugest fan of street art and Penang really is a dream for all things artistic. 

Whilst many people believe that the street art is graffiti or random pieces of art, this in fact is not true in all cases. Although many street artists have now contributed to the street-art scene, much of it was originally, intentionally placed there by London-trained Lithuanian artist, Ernest Zacharevic in an agreed attempt to draw greater attraction to the historical streets of Penang. Most of his murals include mixed media, with some of his works displaying real motorbikes and bicycles, chairs or other physical objects.

photo via @joham

Since then many people have added their contributions to the walls and buildings of George Town, displaying some of the most creative street art in the world. 

photo via @joham

There are many ways to discover the street art, with tours being available from most hotels or hostels. My advice would be rent a bicycle or walk around George Town and discover the gems for yourself. I find it much more rewarding that way. It won't be difficult to find them, just follow the crowds of people taking photos or posing alongside the famous artworks. You can also take a map of the street art with you for a guide.

image via www.thenextsomewhere.com

photo via @joham

I'm not here to tell you where you can find all of this, because that would spoil the fun ;-), but here is a mixture of famous and less well known street-art discoveries.

image via @joham

image via @joham

As mentioned, I prefer to wander and hunt out the street art of the city on foot, but if you really can't be bothered to hunt out the hidden gems then there are plenty of websites which provide maps for street art walks or tours. Here are a few of them:
https://theoccasionaltraveller.com/street-art-george-town-penang/
http://thenextsomewhere.com/2017/07/11/walking-tour-street-art-in-penang/

It's also worth noting that the street art extends beyond George Town. You can read more about it in a recommended guide, here.

Have you been to Penang? What are your favourite pieces of street art there?

This is part of a series of features about Malaysia written mainly by the Malaysian community. Expect hidden gems, local flavours, off-the-beaten-track experiences and much more. Consider this steemit's first independent guide to Malaysia!
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More on Penang next..! 

Yasmine

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