The money's in the art.

Byline: Khairul Khalid

GRAFFITI and murals have long been used as mediums for creative expression. These colourful images on buildings and public structures have also been utilised to promote culture and tourism, among other things.

Nevertheless, Malaysia can still do much more to integrate street art, such as graffiti and murals, into campaigns that can provide invaluable social and commercial value.

The application of graffiti, murals and street art on public and private property has changed our visual landscape immensely. As well as providing another outlet for creative expression, over the years graffiti and murals have attained significant pop culture cachet that has been used freely to promote arts, products, services, property and even tourism.

Although graffiti and murals in Western countries are now considered a genuine artform, in Malaysia it is still in relative infancy. Many people still associate it with vandalism and view these art works with scepticism. Nevertheless, the artform still has some cultural and social resonance within a local context. For example, the tropical paintings painted by the prisoners at Pudu Prison was at one time the world's …