GEORGE TOWN, Aug 24 — A “lost” bronze sculpture. Chairs made of bamboos in a secret alleyway garden. Enlarged photographs of walls on walls along narrow streets. Sketches of George Town displayed at unexpected places.

Exploring the inner city of George Town has been made even more interesting this month with public art installations located at various places all over the busy heritage city in conjunction with the ongoing George Town Festival (GTF) 2014.

You can go “hunt” for the public art installations placed all over the heritage city; you might stumble upon a strange sculpture that turns out to be a chair or a small bronze statue that you can take home as your prize.

These art installations are part of the festival’s free public art programme.

One of the easiest public art to spot is The Chairs: Secret Gardens of Earthly Delights II.

This project is an extension of the Secret Gardens of Earthly Delights I from last year’s festival where narrow alleyways and various public spaces were turned into beautiful gardens in the city.

This time around, the secret gardens from last year are revisited and outfitted with uniquely shaped and artistic chairs.

So, get ready to talk a walk around the heritage enclave of Armenian Street, Acheh Street and Carnavon Street to search for these gardens and its new additions.

Be prepared to sit on bamboo chairs complete with bamboo trees providing shade or to admire some wall murals while sitting on bold modern benches made from twisted street poles or be in awe with spherical mosaic seats covered in glass mosaic tiles.

One of the chairs of The Chairs project with the Wall on The Wall project (the red zinc wall) in the background.

The Chairs project, in collaboration with Balai Seni Visual Negara, features the work of six artists: Azman Ismail’s Figure #23 & Figure #25, Wong Keng Fuan’s Glass on vine @ metal and air, Adam Michalski’s Mosaic spheres @ mosaic koi fish pond, Freddie Walker’s Khoo’s garden?, James Rickard’s Wooden Chairs @Ora Tonu and Kenneth Cobonpue with his eye-catching Eclipse trishaw.

While searching for these chairs, see if you can spot The Wall on The Wall project.

This project, mooted by Farhad Fakhrian, consists of 12 large scale photos that capture the traces of time on the walls of George Town.

If you don’t look carefully, you may even miss spotting these photos as they are placed on the exact spot where it was taken except that the walls have changed over time from when it was photographed.

Farhad will also be conducting a wall trail to spot these photos and share his experience of embarking on the project since 2010 on August 30 and 31 at 8.30am starting from the GTF shop front along Armenian Street.

Fancy finding a bronze sculpture and keeping it as yours?

Well, it is time to put on your sleuthing skills to search for small bronze sculptures hidden in various locations within the city under the Lost and Found In George Town project by Tanya Sierra.

The artist hides two bronze sculptures at unspecified locations, except for some posters in the vicinity where they are hidden, every week.

Sierra posts the location of where the sculptures will be on her website lostandfoundingeorgetown.com every week and those who follow her clues and find them can keep the sculptures.

Photos of the sculptures and their approximate location will also be put up on the website as clues.

Hurry, it’s the last week to find the last two sculptures that she will “lose” in the inner city.

Ever wondered what Penang actually looks like through artists’ eyes?

Sketches of George Town are displayed at the Mugshot Cafe in Penang. — Picture by K.E.Ooi

Now, you can follow a trail of scenes captured by a group of urban sketchers in the Sketching George Town II — Exhibition @ Kopitiam gallery project.

This year, 150 artists took up residency in George Town between July 5 and 7 to capture the different nooks and crannies of the inner city.

The resulting sketches and drawings are then displayed at 10 café and coffee shops that have been turned into living galleries.

Check out Mish Mash at Muntri Street, Mugshot Café at Chulia Street, Chin Chai Chiak at Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, Favourite Café at Beach Street, Cowboy Street Café and China House at Victoria Street, Asia Café at Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, Hock Leong Yen at China Street, Coffee Lane Café at King Street and Coffee Affairs at Bishop Street.

While walking along Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling in the evenings, remember to look up for a breathtaking view of the trees lining the road being lighted up by star-shaped lanterns, Bintang Raya, which is part of Project Cahaya.

Finally, there is one more public art installation to catch which is a “travelling” installation as it is only placed on one location for several days before it is moved to another location.

The String of Pearls by Australian artist, Tim Craker, will be at the Hin Bus Depot Art Centre from August 25 until 31.

These are Craker’s contemporary oversized versions of Penang’s namesake, Pearl of the Orient, shaped using bamboo blinds.

These huge bamboo “pearls” are placed like a string of giant pearls over the ground.

There are many more art exhibitions, performances and events in GTF 2014 on the final week of the festival before it ends on August 31.

Find out more about the programmes at www.georgetownfestival.com.