KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 — Russian street artist Julia Volchkova has expressed disappointment that her famous Goldsmith mural at Jalan Panggung has been whitewashed.
On Instagram, Volchkova, 36, posted: “Guys, please support and share this Reels. This is very important. After I posted stories, I saw a huge reaction from people regarding the removal of my mural.
“First, everyone is asking why, why, why. I don’t really know. I also want to know the reason. If anyone knows the real reason, please tell me.
“Second, people ask how I feel about it. Of course, it’s painful because my art is my children. It’s a part of me. Creating this work was very difficult, in unbearable conditions.
“I spent my time, my knowledge, my health on it. I have health problems after creating such heavy works. Well, if we don’t talk about me, it’s quite a strange phenomenon to remove this mural because this work is an indicator of Malaysia’s cultural level Worldwide, not just in only Malaysia.
“Many street artists face this. I realised this when I started painting on the streets 20 years ago when my works were painted over. I understand if they are of poor quality. But here it is a fairly good work that all of Malaysia loved.
“And it was a very important landmark, a tourist point where people came. Of course, I know the kind of rules of street art. If you paint on the street, be prepared for your work to be painted over,” added Volchkova, who has nearly 70K followers on Instagram.
The talented artist’s first street arts in Malaysia were the murals Indian Boatman and Indonesian Boy in Penang.
“I started my ‘professional education’ when I was six,” Volchkova told Buletin Mutiara in an interview last year. She obtained her Degree in Arts and Design from Nizhnevartovsk State University in Russia in 2010.
