Mile09's Graffiti Art Is Growing In Popularity And Recognition

By Mohd Ashraf Syafiq Mazlan

PUTRAJAYA, April 12 (Bernama) -- After more than a decade in the world of creative art, local talent Mile09 can now be proud of having successfully carved a name as a graffiti artist who is not only known locally but also internationally.

Mile09 otherwise known as Muhamad Fakhrul Akmal Shamsurrijal, 37, has now done several graffiti drawings in the country and abroad thus dispelling the notion that graffiti is a form of vandalism.

Not just ordinary wall graffiti, the Institut Kemahiran Mara Sungai Petani, Kedah’s Graphic Advertising graduate has been entrusted with various graffiti projects with giant entities such as Petronas, Perbadanan Putrajaya (PPj) as well as overseas projects in Jakarta in Indonesia, Bangkok (Thailand) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

“Graffiti art is now seen as a new platform among young people who want to generate income and have fun working without being tied to office hours or employers because it can be done at any time.

“The most important medium in graffiti art is a spray (paint), the graffiti art can be produced according to the customer's wishes,” he said when met by Bernama recently.

Recalling the beginning of his career as a graffiti artist, Muhammad Fakhrul Akmal who has expertise in semi-wildstyle lettering graffiti with pop colours and semi-architectural structure patterns, said that the graffiti he produced was his own ideas as well as obtained through sharing ideas with fellow artists and also via YouTube.

This Putrajaya-born said to familiarise himself with the spray paint and colour selection, he made the zinc wall at construction sites around Putrajaya as his canvases in the early stages of venturing into the field.

“Zinc wall at the construction area would be thrown away, from there I learned the art of graffiti to get to where I am now. The name 'Mile09' is a combination of my name and the area of Presint 9 where I studied and grew up,” he said.

The father of three said the basic material for doing graffiti art is a special spray paint for graffiti artists that is imported at a price of around RM25 to RM35 a can.

“The process of implementing this graffiti art depends on the width of the wall, if the wall is small it's only for a moment. This graffiti project can be done at any time except when it rains,” he said, adding that he would spend nearly 12 hours a day to complete a project.

He said graffiti art has been accepted by the general public and his work has even been recognised by government departments such as PPj, the Johor Bahru City Council, the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) when his drawings decorate the 300-metre long RMAF assets at RMAF Air Base in Subang, in 2010 and a nine-storey building in Jalan Sultan Ibrahim, Johor Bahru last year.

“At the beginning of this year’s Ramadan, the PDRM also used my drawings at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

“I also prepared a graffiti drawing for PPj in the pedestrian area in Presint 8. This shows that the art of graffiti has found a place in the hearts of Malaysians,” said Muhammad Fakhrul Akmal, who also believes that graffiti art in Malaysia is more restrained compared with overseas as many artists over there are more aggressive.

With an income starting from RM5,000, depending on the graffiti project produced, Muhamad Fakhrul Akmal is also a specialist spray paint supplier for local graffiti artists through his shop 'Backalley Shop' in Cheras.

“Income in this field is uncertain, depending on the project, but this graffiti art gives different satisfaction, especially when the work produced is appreciated... this gives me satisfaction to continue working,” he said.

-- BERNAMA