![\"Lithuanian-born](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/317865.jpg\" "\\"Lithuanian-born")
<\/p>\nKUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10\u00a0\u2014 Once dismissed as vandalism or visual novelty, graffiti, murals and public art have\u00a0over the past decade\u00a0reshaped how Malaysians encounter art \u2014 not in art galleries, but on streets, bridges, drains and building facades.<\/p>\n
From George Town\u2019s iconic murals by Ernest Zacharevic to sprawling graffiti projects across the country, public art has evolved into a shared visual language of place, people and identity.<\/p>\n
But as walls fill up and murals age, one main question arises: what comes after murals?<\/p>\n
Public perception<\/p>\n
For Penang Art District general manager Kenny Ng, the future of public art lies not in scale or spectacle, but in rethinking its purpose altogether.<\/p>\n
\u201cPublic art has shifted over time, from civic idealism to creative placemaking and, in many cases, city branding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next step isn\u2019t about more murals or bigger sculptures, but about rethinking its purpose and agency,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Ng believes public art must move beyond object-based works towards process-driven, people-centred practices such as art that evolves over time, involves communities meaningfully and responds to real social contexts rather than merely decorating space.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lithuanian-born artist Ernest Zacharevic with one of his works featured at RexKL back in 2022.\u2014 Picture by Shafwan Zaidon<\/p>\n
That idea of public art as something lived rather than displayed echoes strongly with Zacharevic.<\/p>\n
While Zacharevic is often credited with popularising mural culture locally, he remains cautious about prescribing what comes next.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s something only time can reveal. Artistic forms and mediums are constantly changing. What remains constant is that as long as there are people, there will be art,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Yet even as public art continues to evolve, debates around preservation and permanence persist. Should murals be conserved as cultural assets, or allowed to fade naturally?<\/p>\n
Beauty in impermanence<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is beauty in ephemerality. Sometimes temporality makes a work more meaningful,\u201d Zacharevic said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat said, when certain artworks become deeply embedded in a city\u2019s identity, it becomes difficult to imagine that place without them,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
In September 2024, Zacharevic was commissioned by the Penang state government to restore three of his famed murals located along Cannon Street (Boy on Chair), Armenian Street (Children on Bicycle) and Ah Quee Street (Boy on Motorcycle).<\/p>\n
He had previously restored the murals in 2016 and again restored Children on Bicycle after it was vandalised in 2019.<\/p>\n
Ng agrees that permanence should never be a default expectation.<\/p>\n
\u201cPublic art doesn\u2019t have to be permanent to be meaningful. Some works are meant to last, others are intentionally temporary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said any decision on the murals should be guided by the artist\u2019s intent and the work\u2019s cultural or social significance.<\/p>\n
Both Ng and Zacharevic stress that responsibility cannot rest on a single party.<\/p>\n
Instead, it must be shared between artists, government bodies, institutions, developers and most importantly, the communities who live with these works.<\/p>\n
For artists rooted in graffiti culture, that tension between permanence and impermanence has always existed.<\/p>\n
Local artistry<\/p>\n
Local artist\u00a0Sliz, who began doing paid murals in 2012, estimates he has completed 50 to 70 commissioned murals locally, alongside more than a hundred unpaid or self-funded graffiti works.<\/p>\n
While he has painted abroad in cities such as Singapore, Mumbai and Hanoi, his practice remains deeply tied to the streets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s a wide gap between what is defined as murals or public art, and what graffiti is as a culture,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor many of us who started from graffiti and vandalism, we were already going through our own \u2018next step\u2019 before these terms even existed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He points to an uneasy interdependence between public art as a real-estate or branding tool and graffiti as a culture rooted in community and place, something he feels deserves more professional dialogue.<\/p>\n
As someone shaped by graffiti\u2019s temporary nature, Sliz sees no single right answer when it comes to maintenance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love public art,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI appreciate the temporary-ness of things, but at the same time, I still strive to leave a long-lasting mark whenever I can,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
That balance between passion, profession and responsibility is something graffiti artist Muhammad Fakhrul Akmal Shamsurrijal\u00a0knows well.<\/p>\n
The 38-year-old artist, known as Mile09, began doing graffiti in high school before quitting a stable advertising job in 2010 to pursue mural work full-time.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, I didn\u2019t see graffiti as a career. It was strictly a passion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut after being commissioned for several jobs, I realised I could actually make a living out of this,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Since then, his work has appeared across Malaysia and abroad, from a 300-metre mural at a Royal Malaysian Air Force base to a one-kilometre underpass project in the UAE.<\/p>\n
Recognising value<\/p>\n
For Akmal, public art\u2019s value goes far beyond aesthetics.<\/p>\n
In Kuala Terengganu, murals he painted on bridge pillars ended up helping fishermen identify deep and shallow waters.<\/p>\n
In Kuala Lumpur, graffiti transformed a former addicts\u2019 den near an LRT station into a safer, creative space now used for filming and public activity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese artworks really changed the whole vibe of the area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Still, Akmal is candid about the realities behind large-scale public art:\u00a0from safety risks to material costs.<\/p>\n
After falling from unstable scaffolding early in his career, he now insists on high-quality safety equipment, even when it cuts into his earnings.<\/p>\n
He is equally vocal about the need for better materials and fairer budgets.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you use cheap materials, the artwork might last a year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the right materials, it could last seven years or more. Companies need to think long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Ng, Akmal believes that appreciation for public art cannot rely on visibility alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s okay to give artists creative freedom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet them interpret the work. That\u2019s how you nurture talent and keep ideas growing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As murals continue to attract tourists, shape neighbourhoods and spark debate, one thing is clear: public art in Malaysia is no longer just about painting walls.<\/p>\n
It is about access, ownership, safety, storytelling and community and about deciding, collectively, what kind of visual legacy cities want to leave behind once the paint begins to fade.<\/p>\n
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