![\"Ernest](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/317892.jpeg\" "\\"Ernest")
<\/p>\nGEORGE TOWN, Jan 4 \u2014When Lithuanian-born artist Ernest Zacharevic painted his first mural of his neighbour on the wall of a shop along Armenian Street back in 2011, no one paid any attention to it.<\/p>\n
Then, he submitted a proposal to produce a series of murals drawn from everyday life to then-George Town Festival (GTF) director Joe Sidek for the 2012 art festival and the latter immediately warmed to it.<\/p>\n
What resulted was an experiment in public art that grew into a phenomenon where the murals have since become part of George Town\u2019s cultural identity while at the same time reshaping how people look at art.<\/p>\n
Storytelling, not just art<\/p>\n
According to Joe, when Zacharevic first came to him with the idea for the murals, he found it interesting as it was more about storytelling than about murals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was storytelling to his murals, they are about the people, the place and the identities of the communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said he had agreed to Zacharevic\u2019s proposal as he wanted to bring art out into the public space with storytelling aspects.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted the public to be able to look at an art piece outside, in a free open public space, as these people who don\u2019t go into galleries don\u2019t know what art is,\u201d he said, adding that some people are reluctant to enter art galleries as they believe those are for the elite.<\/p>\n
He said Zacharevic\u2019s murals worked because of the stories he presented through the images.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomehow, his murals fitted with George Town, they are about the people in the street, scenes you see in the street, the local communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Zacherevic\u2019s series of murals for George Town Festival 2012 became such a hit that till today, his murals continue to draw huge crowds.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, Zacharevic started painting graffiti at a young age in his hometown of Vilnius in Lithuania and refined his skills while studying in London.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the years, both my style and subject matter evolved\u2014from lettering to figurative work, and later to contextual narratives and storytelling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Beginnings of a legacy<\/p>\n
His first mural in George Town, of the old man, was based on his friend, the late Ng Chai Tiam, who was a respected Chinese stamp carver and calligrapher.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a teacher and a constant source of inspiration to me after we became neighbours in 2010,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said the building on Armenian Street where he painted the mural of Ng was managed by another friend, the late Tan Chor Whye, who was another strong supporter of his work.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir contributions to George Town\u2019s cultural and heritage landscape are immeasurable and will continue to inspire future generations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His observations of everyday life in George Town inspired the series of murals that he proposed to Joe for the 2012 GTF.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe series was rooted in observing everyday life in George Town\u2014its people, gestures, humour, and contradictions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI chose subjects and locations that already carried social or architectural meaning, allowing the artworks to interact with their surroundings rather than dominate them,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Zacharevic never expected the murals to become a huge sensation and to remain popular till today, even after 13 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always believed public art has the power to resonate with communities, but the scale and speed at which it grew continues to surprise me even today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ernest Zacharevic had previously restored the murals back in 2016 and again in 2019 when the ‘Children on Bicycle’ was vandalised. \u2014 Picture by Opalyn Mok<\/p>\n
Murals boom<\/p>\n
Joe recalled the initial flak he received from various parties when Zacharevic\u2019s murals were first announced as part of GTF\u2019s art programme because he was not a local artist.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was looking at the proposals, if it\u2019s a good proposal, I support but if you come to me with bad proposals, I won\u2019t support it, I don\u2019t care if you are a foreign or a local artist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said Zacharevic\u2019s mural did benefit local artists in the long run because what followed was a boom in murals in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, the mural boom came out of Ernest. In Malaysia, the popularity of murals started with Penang and with Ernest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said graffiti or street art are different, having been around for a long time, since the 1970s.<\/p>\n
\u201cGraffiti is different, it was like the art revolution of messaging on walls, an expression of anger, most have very strong social or political commentary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Joe said there were also official paintings on walls in institutions, such as in schools or along prison walls.<\/p>\n
Starting a trend<\/p>\n
However, after the iconic GTF murals, many local artists were beginning to paint murals on commission and they were making good income from it.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of them was Azmi Hussin, he was drawing caricatures and doing coffee drawings, then he started doing murals and that\u2019s when he started doing well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The murals boom showed no signs of abating but Joe believed that the success of murals should not lead to creative stagnation.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, it was a good exercise. But then after a while, I thought it should stop \u2014 because shouldn\u2019t you all get tired of murals? Shouldn\u2019t artists think of what\u2019s next?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Zacharevic said artistic forms and mediums are constantly changing so only time can reveal what will be the next big thing in artistic expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cPublic art has opened important conversations about access, ownership, tourism, and cultural value,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIts popularity brings opportunity, but also responsibility \u2014 to treat artworks not just as backdrops, but as cultural expressions that deserve respect and care,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GEORGE TOWN, Jan 4 \u2014When Lithuanian-born artist Ernest Zacharevic painted his first mural of his neighbour on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,40895,356,75,164278,164280,164279,21479,164281],"class_list":{"0":"post-386747","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-cultural-identity","14":"tag-design","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-ernest-zacharevic","17":"tag-george-town-festival","18":"tag-george-town-murals","19":"tag-public-art","20":"tag-street-art-malaysia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}