Overview
Your regular commute is now an immersive art experience thanks to Melbourne Art Trams, which has returned for its seventh year as part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival.
The moving exhibition sees eight trams transformed into public works of art, with seven new commissions and one reproduction of a classic 80s piece. And the first one hit the tracks just this morning.
Designed by artist Nyein Chan Aung, the tram is covered in a local interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. Called The Late Supper, it features diners at Melbourne's legendary Supper Inn Chinese restaurant. If you'd like to catch it, you'll find it rolling around the 5, 6, 16, 58 and 72 routes from today.
The project is a revival of Transporting Art, a program which, between 1978 and 1993, saw 36 hand-painted trams launch across Melbourne. One of those was Lesley Dumbrell's bold geometric 1986 design (below), which will be recreated and rolled out onto the tracks this month in a nod to the event's history.
Lesley Dumbrell's 1986 tram courtesy Public Record Office Victoria
The remaining six trams will also hit the tracks sometime this month — and will keep rolling around the city until August 2020 — boasting designs by stencil artist Vandal and photographer Kent Morris. A Keith Haring-style tribute to friendship by The Beaconhills Year 3 Collective will also cover a tram, as will Gene Bawden's work Yours, mine, ours, Sophie Westerman's colourful design embracing both connection and isolation, and an intricate piece by Nusra Latif Qureshi.
The first Art Tram hit the tracks on Tuesday, October 8, with the remaining seven set to be rolled out throughout the month.
Top image: The Late Supper by Nyein Chan Aung. Photo by James HH Morgan.