Former Banksy stencil destroyed ACDC Lane, July 2016 – The Guardian
Banksy street art stencils were recently destroyed. A new doorway in ACDC lane displaced iconic works even though their location was known to the Melbourne arts community. Banksy stencils two metres away were previously destroyed in 2014.
If you are going to destroy historic artworks worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and
chuck them in the skip, you might as well remove it for future generations to enjoy. The Council issues permits to punch construction holes in heritage walls without examining the walls while promoting these lanes as a street art mecca.
History is about the context of events. And some events form part of our collective heritage and national estate. Banksy is highly influential in the rise of the most radical art movement of the 21st century. In 2003 Banksy with other founding Melbourne street artists painted in ACDC Lane. That was a significant event in the evolution of Melbourne as a world street art capital.
These Australian and Banksy stencil images were history in the making – perhaps as seminal to the modern street art movement in Australia as the Aboriginal paintings destroyed on the Papunya school wall in 1973. The art establishment was slow to understand contemporary Indigenous art and now is failing to understand why we need to protect significant street artworks for future generations.
We fight to promote the city’s heritage but the people are losing control over their own city. The fabulous old city that tells the Melbourne story, the city that locals and visitors come here to see, is diminishing every year while towers and more towers compressing more people into an overcrowded city.
The iconic Cherry Bar in ACDC Lane was forced to raise $100,000 for soundproofing after the heritage lane wall was destroyed for new apartments whose new tenants complained about the noise. The bar has now left due to rent rises.
Writer and historian Meyer Eidelson is the owner of Melbournewalks.com which runs over 100 heritage walking tours in Melbourne including street art and graffiti tours.
Also You Tube video below:
MELBOURNE STREET ART AND GRAFFITI TOURS
EXPLORE Melbourne’s famous street art and graffiti in the city’s labyrinth of lanes. Don’t miss seeing one of the most exciting and radical art movements in the world. It is happening right NOW! As Banksy said: ‘Australia’s most significant contribution to the arts since they stole the Aborigine’s pencils’.
VIEW the stencils, paintings, paste-ups, structures, light boxes, installations and mosaics by some of the world’s best artists.
LEARN the difference between street artist, street writers, graffiti and how the ‘permit lanes’ system work.
IDENTIFY local, interstate and international artists (see photos of art from our walk);
DISCOVER the history and architecture of the painted industrial walls, buildings and lanes.
EXPERIENCE the maze of back lanes where Melbournians celebrate their artists, cafes, music, bars, rooftops and coffee culture in the Old City .
MAPS are provided to each participant of the street art locations so that you can return with friends and family.
STARTING POINT: We normally start from Federation Square www.fedsquare.com
SEE – SCHOOL EXCURSIONS BOOKINGS