finding art in Malaysia
**This blog was from a few weeks ago in Malaysia**
A few days ago one of my teammates (Kt Thompson) and I stayed behind for Adventure day and decided to walk around Penang to explore. Probably the best decision we could’ve made. We found so many cool places and so much art. I knew Penang island was more on the creative side but I think that’s now an understatement. There’s art but in ways I’ve never seen it before. About two minutes away from our hostel, there’s a tunnel filled with crazy good art. I felt like a kid walking into there. Art is one of my favorite things to look at. And the art here-has so much meaning behind it. There were parts that mentioned mental health and depression, some about racism, some about life in general, and some that were just very interesting. So this tunnel is associated with a restaurant about a block away from it and in there is even more art. It’s mainly based on the racism that happens here in Malaysia. Against Muslims, Asians, and language barriers. It was one of the most eye opening experiences. Seeing this really sparked my love for art even more. I think there’s a lot of life in art itself-especially the parts that are ugly. Things like racism and discrimination, art comes from that because of the way it’s displayed. I didn’t come to Malaysia thinking that would even be something present but it definitely is. At first it was super upsetting to see and to even know that diversity is so bashed on. But something about it made me hopeful for those that are bashed on for being perceived as ‘different’. They have a way of expressing it through art and for saying that they are more than what they look like or talk like. God created diversity with intention, and it’s freaking beautiful. I’ve come to appreciate people that look completely different from me and grew up completely different from me. In all honesty, life would be boring if we all looked and acted the same. Art has a way of resembling diversity itself too. If you haven’t already read the captions of the pictures in my Instagram post, please do! Diversity rocks and so does art.
