pianomania: STREET ART IN KUCHING, SARAWAK

"I Love Kuching" on Market Street (10)
near India Street market

Kuching, Sarawak may not be as famous for its street art as Penang, which has a long-standing cottage industry of its own right. However, good quality murals may be found in the narrow streets of Kuching's old bazaar area, where tourists and hipsters tend to congregate. I may not have hunted down all these murals but have found most of the better ones. Some are graffiti but nicely done, with no profanities or woke agenda.

Most of the official street art are of the old tradesmen and labourers that make the history of Kuching, and they rightly deserve pride of place to be remembered. Most of these were painted by Kuching-born Leonard Siaw. His eye for detail and brushwork is simply terrific. Surprisingly, there are not many cat murals in Kuching, but one prominently placed statue tableau in a traffic circle is probably good enough.

The old hawkers and craftsmen
of the old bazaar, on Ewe Hai Street (1).

The old tradesmen and craftsmen on
China Street heading to the Main Bazaar (2).

The longest mural of all,
of coolies at work and rest...

...located on a side alley off
Upper China Street
heading towards Wawasan Street (3).

The Jazz Mural near the
Riverside Majestic Hotel (4)

Hornbill mural at the head of Wayang Street (5).

Heading into graffiti territory,
at a drinking spot on Bishopsgate (6)

Austin 3:16 @ Bishopsgate (6),
which seems appropriate on Easter Sunday

Bishopsgate (6) with a view of the
State Legislative Assembly Building

Grooviest five-foot-way
on Ewe Hai Street (1)

Tourist-orientated mural on Bishopsgate Street
near the Main Bazaar Road (7)

Street art outside a backpackers' lodge
by Lau Ya Kheng Food Court (8)

The unmistakable children's mural at
Marian Boutique Lodging House (9),
our home for four days.

The murals are numbered,
to be found in the map above

Looking back, I've missed a couple of really big murals despite being near their localities, and that is really my loss. Looks like we've got to go back to Kuching again!

Update: Here are the murals we missed,

captured on Google Maps