Hosier Lane, Melbourne City, 1998-
So Melbourne prides itself as the capital of street art in Australia. The iconic Hosier Lane sits between Flinders St and Flinders Lane opposite Federation Square, and attracts 5000 tourists a day.
Outrage erupted when ten masked people sprayed much of the lane with multicoloured paint from fire extinguishers on the evening of Saturday 8 Feb, covering up the artworks underneath. Melbourne’s Lord Mayor and Victoria’s Tourism Minister labelled the action “vandalism”. The police are seeking to apprehend the perpetrators for “criminal damage”.
An anonymous spokesman for the “paint bombers” explained that the action expressed graffiti in its purest form and made a stand against the commercialisation and mainstreaming of street art. Melbourne City Council was hypocritical, in his view, in promoting Hosier Lane as a site for tourism and commercial activity (with most artists getting nothing), and yet expressing outrage at their stunt. “You can’t promote creativity and inclusivity and then promote censorship in the same sentence”.
It is not clear that the paint-bombers committed any crime. All art in Hosier Lane is overpainted routinely. The paintbombing itself has already been covered over, as seen from my photos above from 14 Feb, referencing the debate. Having said that, the legal situation in Hosier Lane is ambiguous, with its mix of public and private property rights.
Situated in the middle of the laneway since late 2017 is Culture Kings, one of the many Australian offshoots of a US “streetwear” giant. While it trades on a supposed synergy with street artists, US hip-hop basketball chic isn’t so relevant to most of the art in Hosier Lane. Culture Kings has commissioned murals in Hosier Lane, and in an apparent misunderstanding in 2018, one of its staff called the cops to stop someone from painting over one of them. The company apologised after excoriating criticism.
Melbourne should be proud of its street art heritage. In an overreaction to the 8 Feb paintbombing, Melbourne City Council has suggested that it is “considering new street art guidelines” for clarity. Perhaps, but that clarity could kill off the essence of street art, which is by its nature unruly, ephemeral, and unguided.
#streetart #Hosierlane #culturekings #freespeech











