Graffiti Building - An Unofficial Abode for Street Artistes @ Kota Kinabalu [Opposite Suria Sabah]

There was one building you would not miss should you be exploring the commercial district of Kota Kinabalu; neither was it outfitted in traditional design, nor was it state of the art architecture. 

It was simply put, the structural remains of a colonial building burnt down on 31 December 1992 although what attracted many people's attention was the eye popping street graffiti on the walls and columns. 

Plans were made to construct a new building for the Sabah Art Gallery but eight years have passed with the site continuing to be left abandoned for the vandals and the street artistes to display their creative flair.

Most appeared to be well thought out and likely the work of professional graffiti artistes. By the way, before the building was gutted in flames, it was one of three remaining landmarks that hailed from pre-world war 2! 

Che Guevara - from the look of it, i guess this came from a pre-fabricated stencil.

The most iconic graffiti; did you all realise that one side of the skull in the above picture was from a column in front of the wall? If you search online for this building, you would find that there were constant changes in the artwork. What you see now might change in the near future. 

Some overlaps can be seen.

This should be a good piece that was marred by vandals keen to showcase their lousy skills even though it did portray the shocked expression of seeing the dog shitting, aptly.

A few were sadly rather bad but well, even artists have to start somewhere right? I wouldn't expect a toddler to come out with masterpieces! So, spare your criticisms.

Would you prefer to see a new building instead of the ruins? The practical side of me would prefer for a new building and make full use of the valuable land while the cultural side of me thinks leaving it as it is might serve as a reminder for future generations of its historical / artistic significance. 

=====

Location

Opposite Suria Sabah,

Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia

For the summarised itinerary of the 7 days, 6 nights Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) trip, please click here.