GEORGE TOWN, Aug 9 — They are small, bright yellow and are numbered.

Placed on sidewalks, in front of shops, along the five-foot way and sometimes by the roadside, these yellow wooden chairs provide rest in a shaded spot within the Unesco Heritage Zone of George Town.

These are free to be moved around and anyone can sit on them for a short respite from exploring the city.

These chairs are part of a George Town Festival (GTF) project titled... "Chairs.”

These chairs are placed all around public spaces in the city, in batches, throughout August to provide a place for the public to sit and relax.

Mooted by Penang Institute and supported by Hin Bus Depot Art Centre, the project also aims to pinpoint the spots where public seating is needed.

"This is why the chairs are moveable, we want people to move them to where they think is a good place to have public seating,” Penang Institute's head of urban studies Stuart MacDonald said.

About 200 chairs will be placed all around the city by the end of the month. — Picture by KE Ooi

Three types of chairs, including stools and deck chairs, will be placed at various locations in the city and their movements documented.

MacDonald admitted that the chairs might possibly get stolen but so far, only a few have gone missing.

Most of the chairs are still around and some have been moved to different spots.

By the end of the month, a complete report on the chair movements will be compiled.

"We will submit suggestions for public seating at some of these spots to the local authority in efforts to create more public spaces for the people,” he said.

The idea for the project came about when Penang Institute organised the Park(ing) Day project last year where parking lots were temporarily turned into public spaces.

"By noon, people are looking for a place to sit and there were no places to sit in public spaces,” he said in an interview with Malay Mail Online.

About 120 chairs will be placed all around the city by the end of the month.

Some of the chairs were also painted and personalised by the public in the three weekends leading to August.

"These spots will also be the place to encourage community connections, to bring people together and to make these public spaces a social place,” he said.

The chairs can now mostly be found along Muntri Street, Armenian Street and Acheh Street.

Find out more about GTF here.