Painting George Town red

Painting George Town red

SOME 20 locations in George Town, Penang, turned into a hive of activities in conjunction with the second anniversary of the listing of the city as a World Heritage Site.

Despite the cloudy skies and sporadic drizzle, there was a combustion of sights, sounds and colours in a kaleidoscope of multi-cultural diversity for 15-long hours.

Aptly dubbed ‘Streets Come Alive — Unforgettable George Town’, yesterday’s official kick-off marked the start of the George Town Festival 2010, a month-long celebration featu-ring renowned international and local talents aimed at highlighting the universal values, culture and history that makes the city unique.

Since 8am, crowds gathered to join Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in celebrating the series of events held at the heritage enclave.

Riding a pony cart with state officials trailing behind in a convoy of trishaws, Lim visited several historic sites, boutique hotels and art exhibitions within the inner city.

At the Town Hall along the iconic Esplanade promenade, Lim flagged off a trishaw treasure hunt after launching the festival and the George Town World Heritage Incorporated website and logo.

Against a backdrop of black and white photographs of old Penang, Dasha Logan, daughter of the late Loganathan of Alleycats fame, performed a duet of Nat King Cole’s timeless ballad ‘Unforgettable’ — in line with the festival’s theme.

Lim then proceeded to the more than a century-old Court House before meeting contemporary artist Leon Lim at the junction of Union Street and Penang Street.

The latter then chatted with Lim about ‘The Last Chairs’ — his public art masterpiece specially created for the festival.

At China Street and Stewart Lane, works by Sharon Cheah and Fuan Wong were on display.

Wong’s glass art installation ‘Dream Ficus’, was an amazing piece of fluid colours that dazzled with the light while Cheah’s exhibition featured 23 photographs of cemeteries from 18 countries around the world.

Sculpture At Work, the company working on putting up sculptures and granite slabs to mark the heritage zone, briefed Lim on the progress of the project at Transfer Road.

Nearby, Hotel Penaga opened its doors to showcase a magnificent mosaic wall piece by Australian artists Helen Bodycomb, Glenn Romanis and Dominic Johns and George Fishman from the United States.

The greening of the city’s heritage enclave project was also launched during a tree-planting ceremony by Lim at Carnarvon Street.

At the Chinese clan jetties on Weld Quay, tourists took the opportunity to explore the waters on free motor boat rides.

For a more off-beat tour, visitors were taken to see the final resting place of Penang’s famous figures at the Protestant Cemetery on Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah.

While classical Indian dances and sitar, tabla and nadaswaram (Indian trumpet) music filled the air at Little India, Malay heritage performances including the popular boria, ghazal and silat were performed just mi-nutes away at Armenian Street.

In the evening, the cultural party continued with interesting demonstrations of traditional food and local crafts. The teh tarik demonstration was particularly popular with tourists flocking to catch the action.

Meanwhile, artisans and craftsmen showed off their talents in making lanterns, shadow puppets, batik, henna, shoe painting, Chinese calligraphy, beaded crafts as well as rattan and bamboo items.

The various Chinese clan houses joined in the fun by staging various cultural and musical performances including a Beijing Opera featuring acclaimed Iranian-born Chinese Opera performer Ghaffar Pourazar and International Centre for Peking Opera founding member Chie Morimura, kung fu demonstrations and a Teochew opera performance.

At the Cheah Kongsi, clashing cymbals and thumping drums woke the sleeping “lions” before they sprung into action on the high poles.

Despite only having six weeks to organise the massive festival, the state, the Penang Municipal Council, non-governmental organisations, private sector and volunteers worked hard to ensure the success of the events.

For details on upcoming George Town Festival 2010 events, log on to www.georgetownfestival.com or e-mail info@georgetownfestival.com.

-News courtesy of The Star-