It's a wanderful life, so it is

There is so much street art in George Town dotted all around the city, but it’s mostly concentrated in the UNESCO World Heritige Site sector. We captured only a small sample although we think it’s enough to give a good sense of how much you constantly need to keep your eyes peeled when walking around these streets!

After the city received its World Heritage Site status in 2008, the Penang State Government commissioned 52 cartoon steel artworks by various artists to reflect different stories and the character of the local people.

Of all the Pennag street artists, Ernest Zacharevic is probably the most famous. He had been creating street art in his home city, Vilinius in Lithuania, where it was illegal and covered over almost as soon as it was created. He visited George Town on holiday and was surprised to find himself encouraged by the local authorities to produce some murals. He likes to include real objects in his pieces and this technique has been copied by others and can be found throughout the city. They are also a lot of fun to interact with.

In 2013, “Zach” was given another commission and he decided on the “101 lost kittens” project where he hid their images around George Town. This in turn inspired other artists to create cat murals. We hadn’t noticed how many pictures of cats we had taken until Niall pointed them out!

This was taken on Chew Jetty, appropriately enough. An art critic may also interpret it as a biting comment on the inequitable division of labour between Mhairi and Gerry!!

And you’ll notice the now almost obligatory cat.

We could have taken so many more photos if we’d walked further and concentrated more but there’s no doubt that George Town’s murals are a wonderful enhancement to the colour and vibrancy of the city.