George Town (Penang, Malaysia) Street Art by E.Z.

by Dan ConerdMay 25, 2016Malaysia5 comments

George town……Penang…..Malaysia. At the time I wasn’t sure where I was and all I knew was that Teryn said we had to be here to apply for our Thailand tourist visa to be able to get into Thailand. I later figured out that George Town is the city, Penang is the state and Malaysia of course is the country. By this point into the trip I was just looking for a soft bed, but I also found out that soft beds don’t exist in Asia.

There isn’t much to George town or nothing much that I could find via walking around our hostel. I did notice vendors selling postcards, t-shirts and other usual gear all printed with very familiar street art murals. Some of them I remember seeing once or twice on the internet from facebook or some other social network. I asked a local vendor, “hey excuse me sir, is this artwork near here?” He pointed to the building behind me, As I turned around, I saw one of the murals that was printed on all of the t-shirts. I noticed one of the vendors had a map, I grabbed one and sure enough it was a map to all of the murals around town. To much of my luck, many of them were located just a few blocks of each other.

I decided that I would play “tourist” for the day and go on a little scavenger hunt for a few. I’m not entirely sure how many there is, but there is quite a few, but in that heat, I wasn’t about to wander all over for long, but I did snap a few that I knew I wanted to check out.

There is a lot of different murals and art all around the six or seven block radius and there is also these rod-iron like comic strip art. It’s kind of hard to explain, so I’ll try to snap some photos of those next time. Teryn and I are going back to Penang this weekend for our “visa run” “What’s a visa run and why do we have to run?” Well, little Timmy a “visa run” is where you have to go renew your tourist visa to be able to be in Thailand for 60 more days. Once the 60 days is up, you then go get an extension for 30 more days and then once the 30 days is up, then go back to Penang for another “visa run” it’s basically the only way to live here legally without getting a full work permit visa. “Why don’t you have work permits?” “I thought you guys have jobs now” Well, Timmy it’s a bit more complicated here in Thailand, so you should probably stop asking so many damn questions.

All of these pieces were created by Ernest Zacharevic, a Lithuanian-born artist. Most of these pieces I recognized from the archives of my brain and now I was standing right in front of them. I have a few friends back home that have art books or street art books as a coffee table book or somewhere in their library there might be a copy of street art from the around the world. Just like anything else, seeing it in a book is one thing, but when you finally get to see it in person, it can bring on an incredible feeling. It reminds me all the reasons on why I travel in the first place. As the morning passed the sun was getting pretty warm, I would guess around the lower 90’s, but feeling more like 100 degrees, so I wasn’t up to completing the entire scavenger hunt, but like I said. This coming weekend, we will be back in Penang, so maybe I’ll go explore for the rest of the murals and artwork around town.

Do you have a favorite mural or street artist? Let me know in the comments below.

!Beware!
On busy days most of these pieces
have waiting lines of people
trying to get selfies.

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Global Giraffe is a travel blog that is focused on keeping it real. This isn't a fluffy rainbow magical travel blog, here you'll find real life situations, tips, and advice for the everyday person that wants to know more about places they've never been to. After leaving Denver, Colorado, we decided to try to take on the world, one odd job at a time. For more updates follow Global Giraffe on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

5 Comments

Amanda Kendle on September 13, 2016 at 6:01 am

I spent a few weeks in Penang with a local friend and she took me to some amazing places (mostly to eat!) but we also explored as much of the street art as we could find, I love it! I have one of those tacky tourist T-shirts of it, I was actually wearing it yesterday!
- Author on September 15, 2016 at 11:15 am
  
  There is a lot of hidden gems of places to eat in Penang that is for sure! I’ve been there twice now and I’m always finding new places to eat and drink coffee at. Tacky tourist shirts always have a special place in my heart, mostly because I’m a t-shirt designer. Thanks for sharing!
Kaylynn on October 2, 2016 at 6:46 pm

They are so beautiful. The things you have seen just amaze me. I love your blog. It takes me away from my everyday life to a world that I can only imagine. Your pictures are incredible, too!
- Author on October 3, 2016 at 6:38 am
  
  Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m happy to hear that my blog can provide you with a small getaway even in the comfort of your own home.
Therie on April 21, 2017 at 11:21 am

The one on the last photo is my favorite!