Street Art – George Town, Penang

Street art is for sure one of the big highlights in George Town, and stroll through different streets hunting for art, can be actually pretty fun. George Town  is located in the North East of Penang, and along with Melaka is since 2008 a UNESCO World Heritage site.

George Town displays huge murals that adorne sides of buildings, interactive art installations that allows visitors to insert themselves into the scenes, and wrought iron structures, that tells the history of various streets, quality of life and historical facts about the city in a amusing way.  Basically the street art in Penang is an art lover’s dream! The street art makes the city more interesting and impossible to forget.

There are almost a dozen of murals done by the amazing Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic (facebook.com/Ernestzachas), that was commissioned to do a series of public paintings in central George Town for the 2012 George Town Festival. Unfortunately some pieces are already fading and soon they might disappear.

All of this add to the city’s architecture, traditional crafts and food, are more than enough reasons to visit and fall in love by Penang. Most of the art is focused in the Old George town Streets.  If you’re serious about catching them all  here’s a map of where to find the murals and caricatures.

Bare in mind that walking around trying to find the street art in Georgetown is an amazing free activity. But renting a bike is also an option.

I will leave here some pictures of what I found around the city… Let me know if you have been to Penang and which is your favourite piece..

photography – all rights reserved – Ana Rocha

37 thoughts on “Street Art – George Town, Penang

  1. equinoxio21

    We have indeed crossed path. (Again?) We were in Georgetown in December 2017. Hard to say which art I prefer. I’ve seen (and photographed) almost all the ones you’ve shown. Prazer ve-os novamente. Obrigado. AT.

  2. hartsinthailand

    I’m not sure what to expect from Penang when we visit next month but your photographs make me excited for the trip ?

    • Ana Rocha ??

      I personaly found Penang a very exiting place, mostly because of the Street Art, grab a map and try to find as many murals as you can, almost feels like are doing a treasure hunt 🙂 the food is also quite good. All the best for your trip, be safe and enjoy ?

  3. Tiff

    Lovely! Great photos and post! Can’t wait to see more from you! ?

  4. iballrtw

    Love the street art and you captured it so well! The 3D and 2D are blended perfectly.

  5. White Postcards

    Thank you Ana, these murals are so amusing! They remind me of our time in Valparaiso, Chile where street art is continuously fascinating and around every corner! We only visited Kuala Lumpur and Terengganu, and now I wish we’d spend more time in Malaysia. – Ginette

    • cook the beans

      Hi Ginette, George Town really is a must, put it in your list in case you are back to Malaysia ?

  6. Eartha

    Those murals are just amazing! You mesh right in.

  7. sidran

    Delightful street art! My favorite is the ones with children.

  8. anuragbakhshi

    My God, this is so amazing. Love love love the cats. Will have to plan a trip to Malaysia now 🙂

    • cook the beans

      Glad you liked it 🙂 if you visit George Town there are a dozen more of cats murals 😉

    • cook the beans

      If you visit George Town again you should use a map it’s lots of fun 🙂 some of the art is located in very odd places and it’s pretty much impossible to find without a map

  9. Mel & Suan

    Now this is not graffiti. Art that blends in.
    Penang is such an eclectic place to visit. Have not been in such a long time!

  10. Dippy-Dotty Girl

    What a fun shoot, Ana! Could not decide which was the most appealing. The food in Penang would have been so flavourful! xx

  11. Maxine

    Hey! I hope you had an amazing time, Georgetown is a great place (especially for veggie food! ) I love all the street art, we were lucky enough to be staying in the hotel right behind the Marilyn Monroe and Mr Bean murials, walking past them each day definitely brought a smile to my face ???

    • cook the beans

      I had the best time there, and food is just heaven ?? I’m going to be back soon

      • Maxine

        Oh lucky you! Are you still in Malaysia? It’s such a fab country that gets overlooked quite often. Enjoy it! ?

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