Street Art of Penang, Malaysia

Just a month ago I was lucky enough to be shunning the freezing UK temps to explore the amazing street art of Penang in Malaysia. A world UNESCO heritage site covering a small area of around 2km squared it was high on my list to take an early morning wander around these culturally rich streets to sample some artists work.

Ernest Zacharevic

Zacharevic is one of the most infamous Penang street artists. He received worldwide recognition after creating a series of street art murals for the George Town Festival in Penang. He has often been referred to as Malaysia’s answer to Banksy. His images depict scenes of everyday Malaysian life using local people as the models. The two most popular are Children on Bicycle and Boy on Motorcycle; a combination of installation and painting allows the outside community to interact with the works. These murals now stand as cultural landmarks complete with plaques and frequent queues of people waiting to have their photographs taken with the works (but not if you start your walking tour around 8 in the morning).

All about the cats

As you’re exploring Penang Street art you may notice a few murals dedicated to cats. As a crazy cat lady, I actually really enjoyed these. Apparently there are 12 around Georgetown but I only found a few. They didn’t fail to amuse!

I could’ve spent days exploring and soaking up the atmosphere in Georgetown. And not to mention the food. Penang and Georgetown is famous for it and the night-time street markets are well worth exploring.

I will definitely return to Georgetown. Its rich culture, old buildings, and street art make it a living museum. Of course this is also why it attracts so much tourism but I was blown away by this pocket of culture.

For more of my travel photography visit this page on my website.