KUALA Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is warning artists in the capital city to obtain a permit before putting their artwork on public facilities.
DBKL said although the artists’ efforts at beautifying public spaces were appreciated, such works must be vetted to ensure they were suitable.
“We welcome proposals from any party who wants to contribute to beautification efforts in a planned manner,” City Hall said in a statement.
This announcement follows recent social media discussions about murals at bus stops and kiosks being removed by DBKL lately.
One artist known as “cloakwork” on social media, posted photos showing several bus stops before and after the murals were painted.
The artworks were found at two bus stops in Jalan Raja Chulan and one in Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah. All three have been painted over.
In the caption of his social media post, he said that many bus stops in the city centre were in poor condition and only a handful still remained.
He wrote: “One day, as I passed by one of these stops, I thought, why not use my skills to give them a makeover to brighten up the area?”
On the removal, he said, “Instead of spending money removing my artworks which pose no harm, why not fix the potholes around the city?”
Checks on the account found that the artist had done plenty of murals in and around Kuala Lumpur.
DBKL in response said the murals in Jalan Raja Chulan and Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah were removed because they were made without approval.
It added that the bus stop at Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah was slated for demolition.
City Hall also announced it was in the midst of upgrading 21 bus stops and kiosks throughout the capital, as part of an effort to welcome visitors amid the Asean Summit, which is being chaired by Malaysia.
“To date, 18 stops have been spruced up, which included repainting, structure repairs and roof replacement.
“All bus stops and kiosks have been painted dark grey, which is the standard colour for DBKL,” it added.
