I HAD the pleasure of meeting Ernest Zacharevic on various occasions when I was living in Penang, as well as the young Chinese girl who was his model for his most famous street art piece on Lebuh Armenian.
The London-trained Lithuanian artist transformed George Town into an Asian capital of murals in 2012 and contributed, since then, to make these murals a significant tourist attraction in Penang. In 2016, he made some touch ups on his masterpiece before moving to other parts of the world.
'Little children on a bicycle' was probably for years the most photographed location in the heritage centre. People used to queue in front of it from dusk to dawn to take photos with it.
The Covid-19 pandemic and various lockdowns in Malaysia had changed all that. The photo above was taken on Saturday, August 21st, in the early afternoon. I did not focus on the art piece itself but mostly on the emptiness of the street.
Let's see what the future has in store for tourism in George Town. – The Vibes, October 24, 2021
Philippe Durant is a Belgian expat photographer currently residing in Ipoh
