In 2012, the George Town Festival commissioned Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic to paint a series of murals on the shophouse walls of the heritage zone. The most famous — a boy on a real bicycle, welded into the wall — immediately became one of the most photographed images in Malaysia. Several other artists followed, and the city now has dozens of murals and wrought-iron caricature signs scattered through the old town, each one marking a specific location's history or identity.
A self-guided walking route covers the key pieces in a couple of hours. Armenian Street and its surrounding lanes are the heart of the trail. The iron rod pieces — wire-frame sculptures mounted on walls at street level showing occupational scenes from George Town's past — are particularly clever: a Chinese barber, a trishaw rider, a market vendor. The murals have been commercially exploited (many are now on T-shirts and postcards) but the originals remain on the walls, and the project genuinely changed how people navigate the heritage zone. Maps are available from guesthouses and tourist offices.