Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels
Street Art Of Gopeng
Gopeng, Perak, Malaysia - July 2014
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| Lady selling noodles from a tri-cycle. |
I was on a food hunt to a place curiously called Lawan Kuda (Malay for "fighting a horse"), and went on further to Gopeng town. Was I pleasantly surprised to see some street art murals being drawn onto the walls of the colonial houses at the old town centre. I like street art, they add life to a place while letting the artist express his moods and thoughts. Some street are are really psychedelic ones like those in the Klang River storm drains in Kuala Lumpur. Others reveal the culture and history of the place like those in Penang and Ipoh. Whichever the case is, they add colour and zest things up wherever they appear.
So here let's see the Gopeng ones:
This one shows two boys playing marbles while their little sister looks on while sipping some soda. Some of the street art here uses live props to have that 3-D effect; this one has part of a bicycle and a wooden bench.
The paintings are simple but tastefully done.
With this props visitors can become part of the art.
These street art were done in 2013, about a year ago.
This one is of two children having breakfast. The breakfast table is a real one with an old sewing machine as legs.
Unfortunately the paint used in these murals is not of a suitable quality and have started to fade. Perhaps on of the paint companies could sponsor some good quality external paint for these artists to use.
Another one shows a Malay lady selling durians and petai (stink bean).
A family in a kampung house, using timber and real attap leaves props.
Most of these murals are life-sized.
The attap house mural is snugly located at a side lane.
Beyond this side lane, some restoration is ongoing for the dilapidated houses behind.
One of the old timber houses under restoration; it will be great if they can restore the roof with the same Chinese clay roof tiles which are pretty hard to find these days.
Another timber house have horses painted on its side wall. I am not sure what horses have to do with Gopeng, but nearby there's a town called Lawan Kuda (Fighting Horse).
A lion dance with a Chingay flag carrier.
A little girl sitting on a fallen tree trunk next to a Rafflesia Giant Orchid. The Rafflesia is reputed to be the largest orchid in the world; it is also known as the "Stinking Corpse Orchid" as it emanates a stench of such. This is a rare orchid, but perhaps somewhere in the jungle nearby it can be found.
At the town's round-a-bout, a mock-up timber signboard shows directions to the town's tourist attraction.
There may not be many of these street art around, but still it's a good start.
Beyond this, the town is slowly restoring it's old houses to regain it's heritage.
These street art can be found starting near the RHB Bank at Jalan Tasik and toward the direction of the Gopeng Museum.
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