marcus westbury

PUBLIC art could learn a lesson or two from street art. Seriously. Melbourne is a fantastically textured city. It was one of the reasons I first fell in love with the place. While Sydney is all about the big picture and gets better looking the further you zoom out, Melbourne is the opposite. Melbourne’s postcard [...]

Mostly unrelated picture THIS week, I’ve been discussing the respective state of cultural life in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide and been amazed at the passionate vitriol that comparisons provoke. It seems we love taking potshots across state lines. In Perth this week, the shadow arts minister took a swipe at Melbourne by declaring that [...]

photo by Andy Mac HOW is Melbourne dealing with the fact that one of its biggest tourist attractions and one of its most significant cultural movement since the Heidelberg School is illegal, outlawed and vilified? I was at a forum in Sydney this week. I listened intently as a panel made up of artists, bureaucrats, [...]