Overview
Your regular commute is now an immersive art experience thanks to Melbourne Art Trams, which has returned for its sixth year as part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival.
The moving exhibition sees eight trams transformed into moving, 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 Gunditjmara woman Hayley Millar-Baker, who hails from southwest Victoria, the train's monochromatic art explores personal and collective connections to country, land, flora and fauna. If you'd like to catch it, you'll find it rolling along the 11 (West Preston to Victoria Harbour Docklands) and 86 (Bundoora RMIT to Waterfront City Docklands) routes.
The project is a revival of Transporting Art, a program which, between 1978 and 1993, saw 36 hand-painted trams launch across Melbourne. Among the most memorable was a W-Class tram by the late expressionist artist David Larwill, created in 1986 as part of the United Nations International Year of Peace. This year, it has been faithfully reproduced, with the help of digital photography and adhesive. This one will hit the tracks tomorrow, Friday, October 5.
The remaining six trams will be rolled out over the rest of the month. They'll boast art from psychedelic street artist Oli Ruskidd; Year 9 student Valerie Tang; Nick Howson (best known for Richmond's Tigerland mural); creator of Fitzroy's Pool Parade, Stephen Baker; Oslo Davis, whose weekly cartoon Overheard has been amusing readers of The Age for longer than a decade; and Troy Innocent, whose interactive tram design will become animated when viewed through a mobile phone with an augmented reality app.
Images: James Morgan