Hosier Lane, Melbourne
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Hosier Lane is a
laneway An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, walk, or av ...
in the
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
(CBD) of
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, Victoria, Australia. Located on the CBD's southern edge, it extends between Flinders Street and
Flinders Lane Flinders Lane is a minor road, street and thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district of Victoria, Australia. The laneway runs east–west from Spring Street, Melbourne, Spring Street to Spencer Street in-between Flinders Street, Me ...
, and opens opposite the Atrium at
Federation Square Federation Square (marketed and colloquially known as Fed Square) is a venue for arts, culture and public events on the edge of the Melbourne central business district. It covers an area of at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Street ...
. Since the late 1990s, Hosier Lane has become a popular tourist attraction due to its
street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant gr ...
. Hosier Lane is a long-standing de facto ‘free-to-paint' area that does not require permits or permission.


History

The lane was named after a local businessman by the name of Robert Hosier.


Street art

Hosier Lane opened as a Street Art Gallery in 1998 by the City Lights Initiative. The lane is located opposite the entrance to the Atrium at
Federation Square Federation Square (marketed and colloquially known as Fed Square) is a venue for arts, culture and public events on the edge of the Melbourne central business district. It covers an area of at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Street ...
on Flinders Street, placing the lane prominent position in the city. The lane has been noted for the quality and the often political nature of its art. It features in the state-sponsored book ''The Melbourne Design Guide'' and in Tourism Victoria's ''Lose Yourself in Melbourne'' advertising campaign, leading to questions about the dichotomy of
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
's approach to
graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...
. The graffiti-covered walls and art-installations have become a popular backdrop for
fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...
and
wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...
photography. In 2013 street artist Adrian Doyle painted the entirety of the adjacent Rutledge Lane one color with the consent of the
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
city
council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
to create a work he called "Empty Nursery Blue". In November 2013, Melbourne's largest urban art paint-up was undertaken in the form of All Your Walls, organised by Invurt, Land of Sunshine and Just Another and held in conjunction with the National Gallery of Victorias Melbourne Now event. Involving some of the city's finest graffiti crews/collectives and street artists, a major makeover of Hosier and Rutledge Lanes was performed, in order to celebrate the significant role street art and graffiti continues to play in the cultural life of this city. Over a period of two massive painting sessions during November 2013, both Hosier and Rutledge Lanes were first entirely buffed black and then completely transformed, top to bottom, by over 100 local graffiti and street artists – all of which culminated in an event with live graffiti projections in Hosier Lane in homage to Melbourne graffiti and street art. In early 2020, six masked people 'Colour Bombed' the lane, erasing many artworks in the process. This was treated as an act of vandalism by the Melbourne Lord Mayor and was investigated by police for vandalism, while many street artists believed that they did nothing wrong and were just adding to the 'free for all' nature of the site. The incident became the focus of online and tabloid conspiracy theories, with social media users accusing the culprits of being linked alternatively to antifa,
Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a UK-founded global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and ...
, or the Young Liberals, while '' Daily Mail Australia'' ran a piece claiming that the Chinese state was behind the incident.


Other features

Hosier Lane is also known for its upmarket cocktail lounges including the popular Misty and MoVida. An open air cooking session with MoVida's chef Frank Camorra on Masterchef Australia season 2 showcased the lane as a major Melbourne attraction.Kalina, Paul
Secrets and fries
''
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...
'' 20 May 2010


Gallery

Image:Meggs street art Melbourne.jpg, Stencil art, 2005 Image:Hosier Lane.jpg, Painted doorway, 2009 Image:Hosier Lane, Melbourne, Australia (Unsplash oaMvi6dWhrg).jpg, Street artist at work, 2017


See also

* Lanes and arcades of Melbourne *
Street art in Melbourne Melbourne, the capital of Victoria and the second largest city in Australia, has gained international acclaim for its diverse range of street art and associated subcultures. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, much of the city's disaffected youth w ...


References

{{Melbourne CBD Streets Streets in Melbourne City Centre Graffiti in Australia Street art in Australia Culture of Melbourne