Batik Painting Museum Penang: everything you need to know

Housed in a beautiful building on Armenian Street in Penang, the Batik Painting Museum is part-gallery, part-museum, and fully worth an hour of your time when visiting George Town.

Batik is an ancient technique involving wax, dye, and a great deal of skill and patience. Long practiced in Asia as a decorative process, it wasn’t until the 1950s that the tradition of batik painting began to form in Penang, a combination of batik and fine art.

The Batik Painting Museum Penang is more gallery than museum, showcasing as it does almost one hundred original batik paintings, although it also gives visitors an introduction and understanding of this exquisite art form. Located in a heritage building on one of the most iconic streets in George Town, it’s well worth a visit.

Where is Batik Painting Museum Penang located

Located down Armenian Street, one of the most photographed and visited streets in Penang, the Batik Painting Museum is easy to find and makes for an easy stop on any visit to George Town.

Opening times and entry fees

Batik Painting Museum Penang is open from 10.00am to 6.00pm, Tuesday to Saturday (closed Sunday and Monday).

Entrance fees are RM10 for adults and RM5 for students.

There is no discount for Malaysian residents and payment is cash only.

What to expect from your visit to Batik Painting Museum Penang

Don’t be confused by the name, as this is really a gallery rather than a museum. Before you start looking around, you’ll be offered the chance to watch a ten-minute film explaining the batik painting process and some of the techniques used. It’s well worth watching and helps you to understand just how much skill and patience is needed to bring these detailed pieces of work to life.

The video features Chuah Thean Teng, the man who first imagined the concept of batik painting by combining batik with fine art. The batik painting hanging above the television screen is the actual piece that you see being created on the film.

Now that you have more appreciation of the skills and techniques used, you’re sure to view the paintings on the walls in a whole new light. The detail, precision, time and skill that goes into creating them comes to life as you wander around.

Set over three floors, the building itself is worth a visit in its own right, with ornate wooden staircases, high airy ceilings and a central lightwell. These fascinating buildings along Armenian Street are a key component of Penang’s history, but it’s not always possible to gain access and look around them, so make sure you take your time to appreciate the building as you walk around.

The paintings cover different periods and styles since the 1950s, created by a range of different artists including Chuah Thean Teng himself. Getting close to the work, you have to keep reminding yourself how these paintings were created and the amount of time and effort that must have gone into them. The pieces focused on Penang are of particular interest, including some showing the busy streets that haven’t changed much in seventy years.

How much time to allow

Most visitors should plan to spend 45 minutes to 1 hour at the Batik Painting Museum, including the ten minutes at the start to watch the video, and some time at the end of browse the paintings and souvenirs on sale.

Other things to do nearby

Armenian Street is right in the heart of George Town, so you’re spoilt for choice for things to do nearby. Almost next door to the museum, heading southeast towards the sea, is the famous street art Children on Bicycle. If you continue walking down Armenian Street to the sea in the same direction, you’ll reach the Chew Jetties.

Otherwise you can follow our self-guided George Town walking tour that passes by Armenian Street at the junction with Cannon Street.

Final thoughts on Penang’s Batik Painting Museum

Walking along Armenian Street, you’d be forgiven for not noticing this unassuming gallery and museum, as many tourists no doubt do on their way to and from the Penang street art.

But by doing so, you’d be missing out on one of the most relaxing and appealing places to visit in George Town. This unique and intricate art form first appeared in Penang and the heritage building that houses the collection is the perfect place to learn, view, and admire the batik paintings, while also learning something about the people who first brought them to life.

If you would like to see batik art in practice, we suggest a visit to Penang Batik Factory in Teluk Bahang, in the far northwest corner of the island.