Trishaw mural set to draw interest

As reported in The Star

 

Trishaw mural set to draw interest

INTERNATIONAL artist Ernest Zacharevic has managed to bring his idea to life by painting a gigantic mural of a man sitting in a trishaw in George Town Penang.
Zacharevic, from Lithuania, is now famed for his murals of his ‘Mirrors George Town’ street art project for the George Town Festival 2012.



The gigantic mural about 15.2m by 15.2m is majestically painted on a wall of a building in Upper Penang Road beside the Red Garden Food Paradise car park.
The mural was his sixth, which was painted within the core heritage zone of George Town.

“I find it most interesting to see the trishaw-man using the trishaw to hide from the sun and to sleep and sip coffee after a hard day’s work. It is an interesting concept and it gave me the idea to paint it,” said Zacharevic.

The 25-year-old added that the location is also perfect as there is a trishaw pick-up spot (beside Cititel Hotel) just a stone’s throw away from where the mural was painted.

It took Zacharevic about a week to complete the gigantic mural painting.

George Town Festival 2012 director Joe Sidek was grateful to the state for giving freedom for artists to promote the diversified arts and culture scene here.
Singaporean actress Tan Kheng Hua, 49, who played Margaret in the ‘Phua Chu Kang’ sitcom, expressed her interest in working with Joe in the next George Town Festival.

“I would do anything to work with him and I see Penang as a hit,” she said when met at the site on Sunday which was the last day of the George Town Festival 2012.

State Town and Country Planning, Housing and Arts Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said the project sparked an interest as the arts is not only confine to art galleries alone.

He said: “There are many types of art, be it sculpture, mural or others.”
He added that to work on the mural paintings, the artist must obtain permission from the building owners and the local councils before commencing work.