Painting a Year of the Rabbit inspired Street Art Mural on the Streets of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

• Client: None
• Location: Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
• Theme: Chinese New Year of The Rabbit (Bunny Graffiti)
• Dimensions: Exterior wall, approx. 6m wide x 2m high
• Paint Duration: around 2-3 hours (completed in one painting session)
• Materials: Ditton King spray paint, assorted spray caps
• Objective: Celebrate Chinese New Year, share some good vibes, and paint a fun bunny for the people of Kaohsiung City

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Pink Bunny Mural: A Guide to Painting on the Streets of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Taiwan is an incredible place to explore. It’s safe, the food is off-the-charts flavoursome, travel is straightforward, the music scene is vibrant, the temples are awe inspiring, and the locals are genuinely welcoming. If there’s a downside, it’s this: painting street art here isn’t always straightforward, especially if you’re not painting as part of an official project. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Thanks to initiatives like the Weiwuying Cultural Center in Kaohsiung City, entire neighbourhoods have been dedicated to large-scale street art murals. International artists are invited to create massive works, with whole blocks of flats offered as blank canvases. It’s a truly unique sight, if you haven’t already, search Weiwuying Street Art Village or WeiWu Mi Mi Village on Google Maps to see it for yourself.

But it raises a question: what about local artists, or visiting ones like me, who just want to paint, practise, and hone their craft?

The Local Graffiti Scene and Painting Street art in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

To answer that, I visited the local graffiti supply store and chill dudes over at Mess-age Studio & Graffiti Supplies (寫手城市工作室) in Kaohsiung City. The team there are laid-back and super helpful (and moreover stocked with decent spray paint supplies). They explained that Taiwan’s street art & graffiti laws are strict, making it difficult for artists to find legal places to paint. As a result, much of what you see on the streets are fast, rushed tags, throw-ups, bombs and dubs… spontaneous bursts of expression, but often lacking the polish that the wider public tends to appreciate in full-scale street art murals.

But alas, this article isn’t about diving into and dissecting the fine nuances of what constitutes authentic urban art or debating the validity of the street artist versus the graffiti vandal when it comes to raw artistic expression. What I will say is that there’s room to bridge the gap between the two worlds, and introducing more legal painting spaces could, in my opinion, do far more good than harm.

That said, even under challenging circumstances and the harshest of condition, art…(errr) finds a way.

Finding a Spot to Paint

With some Ditton King spray paint in my backpack courtesy of the good guys at Mess-age Studio & Graffiti Supplies (寫手城市工作室) and only a few days left on my visa, I had a mission: to leave a mark in Taiwan. After scouting around, I got a tip-off about a construction site just south of town, a derelict spot awaiting redevelopment, complete with a long stretch of corrugated fencing and importantly visible from miles around in daylight but hidden enough in the cover of night.

The fencing also had some existing throw-ups and characters. Nothing to write home about, but still worth noting this was the closest thing I’d found to a space where up-and-coming artists had come to experiment and try their hand at spray painting.

After an hour or so of feeling the space out, with the odd passer-by cutting through as a shortcut to somewhere else, I decided this would be the spot. To be honest, it was already too late to look elsewhere. If I’d had more time, I probably would’ve befriended someone with a wall to offer or found a client to paint for. But my will to paint was strong, and it had been a while since I’d painted feral and so I welcomed the slight edge it gave to the mission.

It wasn’t glamorous, but it was perfect. This was the most accessible place I’d found to do some un-commissioned mural painting without getting into trouble. I decided this would be the place to create a small celebration of Chinese New Year – the Year of the Rabbit.

The Painting Process: Freestyle and Feral

I always find painting to be a fulfilling activity, what constitutes fulfilment is a variety of factors, in this case it was the sheer knowledge that the only thing I need to accomplish is the painting itself. No client to satisfy, there is no logo to paint to perfection, in fact I didn’t even have a prep sketch, and this brings me back to the days of improvisational live painting at raves in London (Thank you for the memories Braindrop, McMash Clan, Graffiti Breakz and all!).

My only aim: create something fun, vibrant and visible, using as much of my spray paint stock as possible. My palette was mostly pinks and purples, which inspired the character — a giant cartoon-style bunny.

For the lettering, I painted my name (ViNNi KiNiKi) in a melting ice cream effect using greens and creams, then added pink highlights for contrast. I even had enough black left to create a small, insect-like creature beside the lettering, bringing balance to the piece, having a character either side of the lettering. While I didn’t manage to incorporate Chinese characters for “Happy New Year,” it still felt like a festive offering to the local community.

In hindsight, if I’d been better prepared, I would’ve written down the hanzi (traditional Chinese characters) for “Happy New Year” (新年快樂) in Taiwanese. Interestingly, it’s written the same way as in Mandarin, but pronounced completely differently in Taiwanese Hokkien, the local language is curious like that.

The final mural stretched around 6 metres wide and 2 metres high. A spontaneous, colourful burst of pure street artistic expression. The piece was complete, with me ready to slip back into the vibrant streets of Kaohsiung City to enjoy a final round of dumplings and some delicious local craft beers. If you are reading this Taihu Brewery (臺虎精釀)I’ll gladly paint for you in exchange for free beer, the Hazy Platypus is beyond delicious! And on that tasty note I come to the end of this fun quick burst of colour.

Reflections and Invitation

I always find graffiti and mural painting deeply satisfying. Whether it’s a commercial mural commission or a freestyle piece like this, it’s about presence, flow, and leaving behind something meaningful.

If you’re in Taiwan and looking for a graffiti mural artist for your business, gallery or business venue, feel free to reach out. I’d love to collaborate officially next time with the right permits and planning. Send a message and get in touch!

Much love and respect to Taiwan, your food, your people, your beautiful vibes, I can’t wait to visit again.

Xie xie ni, Until next time.

• Graffiti
• Mural artist