The wonderful wall art that started in Penang has come to Ipoh. Initiated by art teacher, Eric Lai, who runs an art school Artgene Studio in Bercham, he had just completed his seventh and last mural at the lane in between Jalan Masjid and Jalan Sultan Iskandar (Hugh Low Street).
His earlier four murals had a cultural theme but his last three were of children’s activities such as blowing bubbles, playing hide and seek and boys playing at a waterfall. Undoubtedly these scenes depicted a time when these were common activities even though they are now rare.
Lai’s interest stems from his youth when his mother used to create images on their house walls. However, the inspiration to create this wall art in Ipoh came from Penang’s Zacharevic wall art murals.
Lai had wanted to do this for sometime so when a ‘supporter’ offered to fund the material for Lai to proceed, he jumped at the idea. Lai promptly approached the building owners who had no objections and also alerted Ipoh City Council’s Building Department before he started work.
The result is a wonderful glimpse of scenes of life and culture of a bygone era. When selecting the wall to paint Lai does not clean the whole wall, just the areas he wants to paint over saying the texture on the wall provides for a natural feel of the scene. Lai uses acrylic paint for his art work.
Lai intends to continue doing his wall art but only during the school holidays when his students will be able to participate. For him it is his contribution to make Ipoh more beautiful and hopefully attract more tourists.
JAG
