Street art is dead, long live the mural?...

If you come to Melbourne as a tourist or are just starting your life in this city, the first thing you will pay attention to is graffiti and murals. When you enter Melbourne, you will be attacked by targeted advertising of tours along the brightest streets where you can see iconic street art. Hosier Lane, Presgrave Place, Duckboard Place, Caledonian Lane and, of course, AC/DC Lane. May I not show you photos of these places? Every first tourist has them and is easily googled in search engines.

If you decide to go on such tours, I hope that you will at least be told that almost all of Banksy's works, which were created in 2003, have been destroyed - by local street artists, building owners and ordinary utilities. No, glass doesn't always save you from vandals either. The addresses of those works that are still available are hidden from the public. Although there may be only one left, this job.

Banksy in Melbourne

But more about Banksy another time. Today I want to draw attention to the murals in Melbourne (although they themselves perfectly attract the attention of passers-by).

Murals are everywhere - from small private fences to huge walls of the housing commission, from advertising of local pubs to advertising blockbusters, from portraits of artists themselves to portraits of people of the first nations.

The very first and most significant is the Mural of Keith Haring, which was created back in 1984 at Collingwood Yards. Not far from him, a portrait-mural of Haring himself in the company of Jean-Michel Basquiat recently appeared.

Keith Haring in Melbourne

Keith Haring/Basquiat

As a newly arrived resident of Australia, I can only read about the history of local street art. Unfortunately, I can't compare what was 20-30 years ago and now. But reading the texts of my colleagues - critics and guides, I understand that the appearance of the city has changed a lot. Laws have been introduced here that prevent the appearance of graffiti in a variety of places - protests and harsh statements. The names of the main artists have changed, and the art market has changed, because of this, the authors have changed their positioning.

The presence of such a large number of murals is quite a natural result of the commercialization of street art. Which has both pros and cons. Yes, artists are increasingly moving away from expressing social problems in the execution of orders. But the financing of a large layer of creatives has also improved.

One journalist called the modern murals of Melbourne the term nu-muralism - these are custom-made works that support the image of the city, but at the same time take the viewer's eyes away from the "true" street art - wild, free and bright.

Most recently, there was a project for ordering such murals - Book an Artist. The idea is very simple - if you need to create a work, you publish an order on the site. Registered artists can respond to your offer, and you choose the style and artist you like. This is the freelancer exchange. I will leave an assessment of this service in terms of the art creation process. But this is a great opportunity for artists to monetize their work. Judging by the fact that the list of cities includes, in addition to Australia, London, Singapore and Toronto, the site is in demand from both the customer and the performer.

Air in Collingwood

Another initiative comes from the state itself and local councils, which include in their plans the decoration of the territory and public spaces including street art.

But I want to protect you from disappointment over the "combed" of the main streets. In Melbourne, street art has been preserved in its original sense. Wander around Fitzroy and areas far from CBD - the most interesting thing is hidden from touristic trails.