Iconic pedestrian laneway with cafe and people in Melbourne Australia
Esperanza Spalding & Gretchen Parlato — Jobim: Inutil Paisagem
I’m a Los Angeles-based writer, excited to be working with ZO Magazine to connect human beings across the globe through art. As a writer, I think it’s important to reach out. To explore the world and the people in it. To be curious about different places, cultures, forms of expression, about other people’s experiences and art…
…There’s an introverted part of me that likes to sit alone in front of a computer, building characters and manipulating language, immersed in my deep inner world. Or else sit outside reading, immersed in someone else’s. But that’s only one part of being an artist. Connecting with other artists, fuels art. Knowing and understanding the complexities of this human experience, fuels art. Diversity fuels art. Inquiry and exploration, fuel art. Going to galleries, theaters, restaurants, and traveling, fuels art. So, it was fun to reach out to two fellow artists I know and to learn more about their art culture, and their artistically rich city, of Melbourne, Australia.
*Thank you to the writer Sam Benton and the queer performance artist and art and events coordinator Dani Web, for introducing me to Melbourne!
“Sometimes it seems to me that, in the end, the only thing people have got going for them is imagination. At times of great darkness, everything around us becomes symbolic, poetic, archetypal. Perhaps this is what dreaming, and art, are for.“
― Helen Garner, Everywhere I Look.
*Helen Garner is a notable and fiercely honest Australian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, who has lived most of her life in Melbourne.
Street Art in Melbourne
Melbourne, Australia city info:
Melbourne’s rich culture has born highly notable writers like Helen Garner and Tony Birch. It’s a hub for innovation, bold writing, diverse voices, and boundary-breaking. For example, check out the online Magazine, “Archer.” As the website states, “Archer Magazine is an award-winning print publication about sexuality, gender, and identity. It is published twice yearly in Melbourne, Australia, with a focus on lesser-heard voices and the uniqueness of our experiences.”
Don’t forget to visit some of Melbourne’s great theaters: Her Majesty’s Theatre, The Princess Theatre, Regent Theatre, The Arts Centre
A Cup of Coffee in Melbourne!
Melbourne is said to have some of the best coffee on earth. With artisanal roasters and baristas, bringing innovation and art to the daily ritual and to the coffee bean itself. Here’s a guide to some of the best coffee spots in Melbourne.
Check out ZO’s Best Breakfast In the World Concept & Expo now in development.
Check out Melbourne Radio —
ARTISTIC MELBOURNE
For art culture, visit the National Gallery of Victoria, the Lume, or a Rone exhibit. Rone is an internationally renowned street artist and muralist who pants buildings, often the outside, sometimes inside, and often places that are going to be torn down. The newest Rone exhibit, called “Time.” As stated on the Rone website, “Time” is…
Set in the long-abandoned third-floor wing of Flinders Street Station, Time is a nostalgic love letter to mid-century Melbourne and a tribute to one of the city’s great icons.
Created and developed across the past three years, this truly exceptional site-specific experience is Rone’s most ambitious project to date. Profoundly atmospheric, Time captures both the grand scale and character of the site and the minute detail of a period of Melbourne’s history long lost to progress.
A fictional history that transports audiences to post-WWII Melbourne, Time is inspired by an era when European migrants powered the city’s booming manufacturing industries. A vignette of mid-century working-class life and an ode to the faded yet enduring beauty of this forgotten place, Time captures the spirit of the city’s industrious past while offering glimpses of the station’s role as a once-glorious hub of work, learning and social life.
Twelve installations, each room adorned with Rone’s haunting signature murals, the artist and his team have created an immersive, multisensory installation that audiences will remember for time to come.
Rone feels like a blend between fine art and street art. In Melbourne the street art scene is vivid and alive!
MUSICAL MELBOURNE
Melbourne is one of the live music capitols of the world (according to Wikipedia.) and is considered a mecca of music in Australia. It’s started to be compared to NYC. There are summer music festivals like the Midsumma Festival and a scene of lively, up-and-coming artists. I’ve been listening to R&B artist, Forrest Claudette’s first EP, just released.
Or for a different flavor, check out trance/electronica producer Memphis LK.
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