Merdeka Special - Pasar Seni

From wet market to Art Deco building

Built in 1928, it functioned as the city’s largest wet market until the 1980s. The large cavernous interior housed all sorts of stalls selling fish, meat, vegetables and fruits. It was a wet, grimy, noisy and smelly place.

Before that, the site itself was used as an open-air wet market from the 1880s onwards.

It finally closed for business in the 1980s when it was no longer possible for the market to be located in such a busy area of the city.

In 1986, it opened its doors once again to traders. But of a different kind. As an art and culture market, the new Central Market is a huge tourist attraction. But we locals frequent it, too, to buy anything from designer Tshirts to authentic Kelantanese silver jewellery.

Today, the Annexe —just behind the original Central Market —is a creative hotbed. Exhibitions, poetry recitals, book launches, and dance performances; you can always find something happening here.