By Jade Johnston
Melbourne has a reputation for being Australia’s artiest city. We recently discovered some of Melbourne’s art scene with a Melbourne art walk tour. The first half of our walking tour focused on some Melbourne street art. Our guide took us to some of her favourite street art in Melbourne, and I was blown away with the quality.
In fact, Melbourne street art is everywhere. The lanes and alleyways are famous for their ever changing paintings and murals that literally spring up over night. One could argue, the the phyche of Melbourne is partly made up of the Melbourne street art.
Our art walk tour only briefly touched on Melbourne street art – most of the tour focused on local artists who were currently holding exhibitions in local art spaces. Therefore, I called upon the masses on OurOyster.com’s facebook page (like us here!) for their own Melbourne street art submissions. I was blown away with how quickly I was submitted links with some amazing photographs.
The following photo essay will contain some OurOyster.com images during our time in Melbourne, as well as images from some other great photographers and bloggers out there. Look under the photo for the credits if it is not an OurOyster.com photo.
This image is from Bitten By The Travel Bug – you can find the original post here – street art hosier lane
This image is also from Bitten By The Travel Bug – what melbourne street art says about love
This piece of Melbourne street art is created by gluing pre cut out bits of paper to the wall
This piece of Melbourne street art is one of the most technically impressive – imagine creating the skin tones with a can of spray paint!
The last image is from the blog Dear Lily, you can find lots of photos of Melbourne on her blog NotSoMuchHasChanged
During our time in Melbourne we stayed at the Melbourne Base Hostel. This hostel is conveniently located in St. Kilda – and area where a lot of great restaurants and night life venues are located. When we arrived we received a free welcome drink, and also arrived on the pub quiz night with $5 burgers! Awesome! The hostel has great deals and events on every night, and best of all, you can use your Base Jumping Cards here in exchange for accommodation.
Our base jumping cards were provided complimentary by Base Hostels, but all opinions remain our own.
Jade
Jade is a freelance travel writer from Manitoba Canada. She loves travel and meeting new people has lived in 6 countries and travelled to more than 30. She prefers to travel slowly - taking overland transit or working/ volunteering in the countries she visits. Her motto is that she might never return to this place again, so she has to try to soak up as much as possible. To learn more about the OurOyster project,click here! Or to find OurOyster on Google + : Jade's Google Profile You can also shoot her an email at jade@ouroyster.com
Tash (7 months ago)
Ohh, I just took a photo of the green lady in the second photo in the last few weeks – will have to wait a bit to post it! Ha!
Love the ever-changing art of Melbourne!
Tash recently posted..View From Top Of The Rock
OurOyster (7 months ago)
haha I beat you to it!
Leslie (Downtown Traveler) (7 months ago)
Beautiful street art! Love it. It rained the whole time we were in Melbourne… will have to go back in the summer
Leslie (Downtown Traveler) recently posted..PHOTOS: 11 things to do in Seattle if you only have one day
OurOyster (7 months ago)
haha going in the summer doesn’t quite guarentee nice weather either I hear
Peter (7 months ago)
Great post – didn’t come across any of Banksy’s pieces on your travels throughout Melbourne?
Peter recently posted..Give Away: The Travel Project 1000
OurOyster (7 months ago)
Oh I didn’t know there were any Banksy’s in Melbourne – I will have to have a look out for them next time I am there
A Montrealer Abroad (@amontrealer) (7 months ago)
Wow, what a gorgeous photo set! I’ve always been inspired by street art and of course Melbourne is very high on the list of places I want to visit because of that!
A Montrealer Abroad (@amontrealer) recently posted..Postcards from Boston
OurOyster (7 months ago)
Melbourne is so renowned for it’s street art as well – I think if you are into the art scene – then Melbourne is the main place you will want to visit in Australia
Laurence (7 months ago)
Hey Jade! I’m a massive fan of street art and love to take photos of it
SInce you asked, here’s my post on the street art of Berlin: http://www.findingtheuniverse.com/2010/10/alternative-tour-of-berlin.html
Laurence recently posted..My Spanish Adventure
OurOyster (7 months ago)
Yay thanks! I love street art photo essays! And Berlin has a lot of real gems!
Angela (7 months ago)
Fantastic street art, I love murals, in Sardinia we have many and I love taking photos of them.
Angela recently posted..Museums, legacy and what Fortaleza is not doing
OurOyster (7 months ago)
I love Sardinia – every time you mention it I want to jet back there immiediatley
Bret @ Green Global Travel (7 months ago)
Love it! I typically prefer street art to the stuff you find in fancy-shmancy galleries. Just seems to me that it has a bit more heart to it.
Bret @ Green Global Travel recently posted..Top 5 Eco Activities in Tongariro National Park, New Zealand
OurOyster (7 months ago)
I agree – and also street art is very relevant to the age we are living in = it changes so often that there is no way it can’t be current
Adela @ Four Jandals (7 months ago)
I love Melbourne for its arty scene. what a cool tour to do. The fifth picture down is amazing, so much detail.
Adela @ Four Jandals recently posted..Facing my Fears – Hot Air Ballooning in Costa Brava, Spain
OurOyster (7 months ago)
I know – Posting this article has made me want to go back for a weekend away or something
Reena @ Wanderplex (7 months ago)
Melbourne is definitely one of those cities that just inspires you from an artistic point of view – the fashion, design and art scene is really strong and everywhere you go you see someone in a cool outfit or a great bit of graffiti/street art. Nice pics!
Reena @ Wanderplex recently posted..The most visited site in Athens? It’s not the Acropolis.
OurOyster (7 months ago)
I totally agree – I could spend a whole week shopping in Melbourne and visiting cafes and galleries – although Im not sure if my bank account would appreciate it
Stephanie - The Travel Chica (7 months ago)
Great stuff!
Stephanie – The Travel Chica recently posted..Seattle Through My Lens
OurOyster (7 months ago)
Thanks!
Ali (7 months ago)
I don’t often take pictures of street art, but I do remember seeing some good ones in Melbourne. Also, I stayed at that Base hostel too, in the female only “sanctuary” dorm, and I thought it was great. Included nightly free champagne for one hour!
Ali recently posted..Disadvantages of Taking a Tour
OurOyster (7 months ago)
I saw that option! It looked great, but as I was travelling with my partner I thought it would be a little rude to leave him in the regular non-champagne room
Julia Spencer (6 months ago)
I’m a big fan of street art, I’m sure that such pictures on walls can make people smile, can make our lives a little bit colorful and interesting! Thanks a lot for sharing
Julia Spencer’s recent post.. Awesome Facebook Templates For Personal Pages
Cez (@CezKrol) (6 months ago)
Hey Jade,
This is certainly something I would like to see in person. Once I’m in Melbourne I will come back to this post and follow the streets you mentioned. Can’t wait!
Thank you for sharing this with us.
Happy travels,
Cez
Cez (@CezKrol) recently posted..Food and Accommodation in Bangkok on a Budget (
OurOyster (6 months ago)
Thanks Cez! Well this post was also a collaboration post, so thanks to all the people who submitted photos as well. There is so much street art to see in Melbourne – you could spend days just wandering the city. and then just do it all over again in a few weeks, since street art changes so quickly.
northierthanthou (3 months ago)
Love the alley pics.
northierthanthou recently posted..Always a Tourist in Vegas, or Look What I Found! (Street Art, Part I)