Art is not just paintings hanging on the walls and Penang is a living example

For someone who can’t get himself to draw a straight line, art never really meant much to me. I never believed art could express much except your bank balance if you have a Picasso hanging in your living room. After years of traveling and living in across hostels across Europe and South East Asia, I did start to see art as a form of expression, but I still could not fathom how art could have any radical impact as it’s described in the history books.

But these were my beliefs only up until I travelled to Penang, where I saw art in action. Simple street art has become the biggest tourist attraction of the capital city of Georgetown with people from all nationalities queuing up for a picture with the interactive street art. It’s amazing to see how something so trivial can have such a strong impact on the culture and economy of a place when used smartly. In the concrete jungles we live in, where we rarely notice the world around us, the Penang street are is a hit for the following reasons.

It enables to capture and interact with history

It gives a reason to smile

It tells a story

It’s just plain beautiful

It’s the cutest way of marketing