IN an effort to enliven the streets of Kuala Lumpur, a group of local artists have begun working on painting feeder pillars (power boxes) to further beautify places in the city centre.

With the project slated to take place throughout the federal capital, artists said it would add colour and enhance the beauty of a place.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insight, street mural artist Zafri Ahmad said the project was commissioned by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to paint feeder pillars owned by them.

According to him, DBKL became impressed with their work in Bukit Nanas, where they painted the feeder pillar together with the walls.

“When we painted the mural in Bukit Nanas, there was no contract or idea to paint the feeder pillars,” the 32-year-old said.

“But right in front of the wall, there was this feeder pillar, which we left without painting—and it was distracting our drawing.

“So, one of our group members came up with the idea to paint the feeder box as well.

“And when DBKL came to view our work, they were amazed with what we did to the feeder pillars. They liked it.

“So, I probably think that was what gave them the idea and us the opportunity to paint the other feeder pillars in the city centre,” he added.

DBKL had initially stated that it wanted to transform Kuala Lumpur into a street art capital, inspired by the success of cities such as Melbourne in Australia that was famous for the creativity of its street artists, whose works had become world attractions.

Currently working on painting power boxes in Brickfields, Zafri said the paintings in each location would have a different theme, concept, and identity, depending on the background and history of the area.

Zafri said that his team would come up with the designs for each location.

“We have themes and concepts based on the places and our leader will come up with the designs.

“For example, here in Brickfields, which is also known as Little India, the theme and concept will touch on Indian traditions, culture, and celebrations.

“In Kampung Baru, the concept and theme would involve Malay elements,” he said.

Zafri, a freelance artist, said they had completed painting some 40 feeder pillars in Brickfields and that there were still around 300 more in the entire capital.

Together with some 15 members, Zafri said it would take roughly a full day to complete a mural painting on one feeder pillar.

Depending on the complexity of the art, it could even drag on for two days.

Zafri believes the mural drawings can significantly impact the local community besides beautifying the place.

He said it could make them love the place and create a sense of belonging, so that they would take care of the place.

500 feeder pillars to be beautified

DBKL confirmed with The Malaysian Insight that the feeder pillar beautification project was under them.

They said that a total of 500 power boxes owned by city hall in the capital would be beautified.

The project, which started in March this year would cost a total of RM850,000.

The locations of the feeder pillars involved included heritage trails, public parks, River of Life, downtown Kuala Lumpur, and other tourist attraction areas.

The project was expected to be completed in March next year.

Zafri, who has been working since the start of the project, said the opportunity to work on street drawing opened up a different dimension for artists.

Often told to get gallery representation during his college days, Zafri said art was a universal language and did not necessarily need gallery representation.

He said such projects allowed people to earn a living during challenging times.

“In college, we took a fine art course and were always told to be exceptional, because they expected to see our drawings in (art) gallery.

“So, most focused on that. However, there are other things one can do, like drawing street murals.

“This project offers a different opportunity for artists to earn an income,” he said. – August 26, 2022.