49.7

“People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish... but that's only if it's done properly.”
― Banksy

KOTA KINABALU GRAFFITI WALL
NORTH BORNEO[SABAH]

This building was once a Land and Survey building then converted to be used by the Department of Social Welfare and also the office for the Society for the Blind. This building is one of the oldest in Kota Kinabalu, a remnant from the British North Borneo administrative era. A proposal submitted by the Sabah Art Gallery, to reuse the building as the art gallery premise in November 1992 was never made possible; the building was mysteriously destroyed in a fire on the morning of 31st December 1992, leaving behind the rows of concrete columns that we see today…
…just one month after the fire incident – a proposal was submitted by a local developer to use the site as a commercial office-cum-carpark…

Believed to have been built sometime between 1918 - late 1920s, this two-storey building was a historical remnant of the British Colonial architectural style comprising of a half-timber, half-concrete columned structure.

In 2007, the site was promised once again to the Sabah Art Gallery as the location for the gallery's long-awaited premise...Strangely - till this day, the site remains abandoned and undeveloped. The promise for a new Sabah Art Gallery has yet to be fulfilled. However, a group of talented local artists are using the ruins as a canvas for creative expression, which may or not be the final blow against further efforts to preserve the memory of this heritage site in the city...