When I plan our trips, I always focus on the sights to see and the places to visit. Rarely do I consider the unexpected art galleries to be found in and around city streets. So often we take pictures of these murals and art, but never give it another thought. I decided to see if I could find any information on paintings we saw around the world. Here is a collection of some of the interesting wall art from around the world that I have seen during our travels.
Interesting wall art from around the world: Penang, Malaysia
Penang is a very arty island with beautiful wall art everywhere.
This image caught our eyes as we came out of a museum, it is on the wall of a coffee shop diagonally opposite the museum. It is certainly not beautiful by any means but is quite striking and the one we remember best from our visit to Penang.
Apparently, it depicts an infamous Hong Kong actor saying: ‘You want coffee? Tea or Me?’. Unfortunately, I do not know who the actor from Hong Kong is.
Interesting wall art from around the world: Brussels, Belgium
Brussels was a city with many walls covered in murals or graffiti. It was pleasant to drive or walk around and come across a beautifully painted picture. We saw so many of these murals; we don’t know which one is our favorite.
This mural shows a young couple exploring the city. The couple is characters from a comic series called Brousaille. Brousaille’s creator is the Belgian comic book artist Frank Pé.
This mural seemed so classy and reminded me of a movie scene from the 1940s or from an old comic book. When I googled it, I discovered that it is based on a street scene from the First World War. The hero in the mural is Victor Sackville from Francis Carin’s ‘Death at the Opera’.
By googling these paintings, I discovered that Brussels is the city with the most comic book murals in the world! There is even a comic book route in Brussels! How interesting!
Interesting wall art from around the world: Cape Town
Cape Town surprised me with its wall art. It ranged from cute ones to gorgeous pieces.
I found this piece hauntingly beautiful and skillfully done. The artist is Faith47 who is a street- and studio-based artist from Cape Town. In addition to South Africa, she has done many murals for cities in Europe and the USA. This image is called Harvest and was done in 2014.
Interesting wall art from around the world: Basel, Switzerland
We got off a tram in Basel, Switzerland and instead of waiting for the arrival of the next tram, we decided to take a walk. Needless to say, we got lost. Getting lost is one of my favorite ways to explore a city as you always end up seeing new things, such as this mural. It was located near the harbor area, so perhaps it is a reference to dock workers? Unfortunately, I could not find any information on this mural on the internet.
Interesting wall art from around the world: Pretoria, South Africa
This image fascinates me. I have walked past it so many times and yet never knew the story behind it. It is not a mural or graffiti, it is a mosaic piece and seems quite old as most of the mosaic tiles have fallen off. Despite this, the image is still visible. When I posted this picture on Instagram, I commented that I wondered what the story behind the picture was.
Lucky for me, Elaine J Masters from Trip Wellness informed me that there was information on the internet about this image. I have googled it and apparently, a South African artist, Hannelie Coetzee, was commissioned by the Pretoria City Council to do this piece. According to the artist, Tant Koek was her aunt, who lost her love in the war and never got married. She used to visit them, bringing gifts and playing the piano jovially. Tant Koek taught the artist a different perspective to life.
Wall art from around the world can provide us with valuable lessons
I found the research I did on these murals or wall art from around the world fascinating. The research helped me learn a bit more about the cities I visited during my travels. I hope to research more of these wall art as I travel the world!
Do you ever google to see the story behind a mural or graffiti piece? Which of these murals is your favorite?
I love wall/street art! Where I live in Athens, Greece – since the economic crisis there’s been a load of wall art – not graffiti – that’s cropped up and it’s really imaginative. Whenever I visit a city, I always try to seek out street art tours. Bristol in the UK is probably the birthplace of wall art, given Banksy is from there.
Thanks for sharing.
Great post! I love exploring the street art scene where ever I go and always wonder about the story behind the artwork.
The first one cracked me up..
I like how the art sucked you in to finding out something out of the way about the places you were visiting. I like the one in Brussels the best – how fun that there are so many comic book pictures there! But the one in Cape Town is certainly very beautiful, and I would like to know more about the actor from Hong Kong!
It is so interesting to hear about what is happening in Greece! I also think wall art is very creative!
Looks like we have something in common!
It is quite funny!
I must say the internet is a wonderful thing! Pre-internet we would have been left wondering!
Love urban art too and your post brings some new murals and artists that I didn’t know. Thank you!
I love doing the research, one learns so many new things about these art pieces!