Butterworth Art Walk (Penang, Malaysia)

I recently went to Butterworth’s Art Street to see what kind of street art they have.

While most people come to Penang to see Georgetown (for good reason), they have to pass through Butterworth first to get to the ferry or the car bridge. Is it worth stopping by the Art Street before going over to the island?

Here’s what I saw and my thoughts about Butterworth Street Art.

WARNING: This post is image-heavy!

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Location & Quick Info

• Address: Lorong Bagan Luar 2, Bagan Luar, 12000 Butterworth, Pulau Pinang
  • Plus code: C95C+W4 Butterworth, Penang
• Public transit: Take 601/603/613/702 to Public Mutual Bagan Luar
  • About an 8 min trip from Penang Sentral
• FREE and technically open 24/7 since it’s an open alleyway

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Penang Food

This is a large mural painted on quite a bit of wall in this part of the art walk. It looks fresh and new, so I’m assuming it was done recently. It’s different foods you can find on Penang!

Okay, this is interesting! That man sitting at the top is actually leftover from a different mural that used to be on that building. You can see the original piece here (#4). This is exactly why I encourage everyone to take photos of street art when they see it– that piece may not be the same by the time you come back to visit again!

Alliance Bank Building

This mural is SO large that I had to take multiple photos. It’s so beautiful and HUGE!

Butterworth By Name

These pieces specifically have Butterworth as text on them.

This first one is on a hotel, Lodge 18. It’s HUGE and wraps around to the front. Great for a photoshoot!

Related: Where to stay: Malaysia hostels & hotels

Here’s a fun one: Butterworth being turned into Betterworld with the help of some kids and local insects (nature).

This is a large piece that reminds me of a postcard, or maybe one of those pictorial maps.

Life in Butterworth

These pieces are about living in Butterworth (or Penang in general).

Here’s a woman making sambal (right?):

Some more local food: flying cookies! 😉

This one is fun! It’s interactive: stand next to the speech bubble and pretend to be ordering from the cart:

Here’s a bunch of talking heads. I’m fairly sure I’ve seen this artist in Georgetown before!

This is on the back of the building where Bagan Seafood is located:

Here’s a portrait of a woman helping sea otters. The text says “If we want to save nature, be friend with the nature first.”

Here’s a figure of a man with the words “Butterworth Baharu” next to him. “Baharu” means something like “renewal” (according to this website anyway).

Ocean-Themed

These pieces all have something to do with the ocean. As Butterworth is a coastal town, that makes sense!

A man trying to catch a fish:

Here’s a snorkeler swimming with a whaleshark. The quote says: “We can swim with them rather than killing them.”

A boy, with paper boats in turbulent waters below:

A fairly straight-forward mural about not polluting the ocean:

This one is worn away, but it’s a water village with a ship on the left side:

Here’s a photo of what it used to look like when it was newer.

Some tropical fish swimming in a square ocean:

Swimming next to a Lego-inspired ferry:

Pulau Aman is a small island to the south of Butterworth.

3D Street Art

I found two pieces of 3D art. First is a bunch of coral VERY high up on a wall:

I really love these and wish I had a stepladder so I could take better photos.

Okay, this next one doesn’t look like much BUT if you look closely it’s actually hundreds of metal butterflies!

And if it’s windy when you visit, then they do THIS:

Motorcycle Sculpture

I found this wire sculpture of a motorcycle in the parking lot area between the two major spaces of the art walk. It’s made by Nizam Sculpture Studio.

Everything Else

Here’s a wonderful pair of parrots to represent the Penang Bird Park:

This black and white drawing (of dragons eating fish?) was unfortunately partially painted over:

In the nearby park (Dataran Pemuda Merdeka) there was this HUGE piece painted on both sides of a stack of shipping containers:

Final Thoughts

While there are some wonderful pieces on this art walk, I don’t know if it’s precisely worth making the trek over JUST to see them. It’s especially sad because a lot of the original murals and art pieces have disappeared, and there aren’t as many new ones to replace them. It ends up feeling a bit empty.

That said, if you’re going in Butterworth to do some shopping or sightseeing or for dinner nearby, though, then for sure stop by! It’s a good way to spend 20 minutes and you can get some great photos.