Melbourne’s new Anti-Terrorist bollards have been given a spruce up since being placed in Bourke St and at Federation Square.
The bollards – erected in reaction to the Bourke Street massacre in Melbourne in January – have been the focus of a recent street art craze, aptly named “Boll-Art” by social media.
The cubes – grey and dreary in their default stature – have been livened up by local artists.
People have taken to the bollards as canvases for their creativity (Photo by Alex Barilaro)
The various contributors’ handiwork received initial backlash from local police and councils who threatened to remove them.
But the public threw its support at the craze – via Twitter and Instagram, and even Federation Square approved of the art.
After this reaction, the City of Melbourne changed its mind and said the art could stay.
The art has now been endorsed by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne.
Victorian Premier Daniels Andrews also supported the artworks, saying it was “great”.
Around 200 bollards have been placed around the city to prevent another incident similar to that of the Bourke Street massacre – when a driver mounted the footpath and killed six people, and injuring thirty. Though the bollards serve a specific safety purpose, they were described as “boring” and “dreary” by Melburnians.
Some of the artists’ creativity includes pictures of Catwoman, and a list of Melbourne’s hallmarks.
The artists responsible for the Catwoman artwork – CitCat – were stopped by Police on June 29th – although no action has been taken to remove the piece.
The “Catwoman” artwork on Bourke Street was one of the first to capture the imagination of passers-by, and despite threating removal, the council have let the artwork remain – (Photo by Finn Devlin)
The city’s fondness for street art has manifested itself in the crowd-sourced public exhibitions, using the bollards as a canvas. Though graffiti artists also scribe their tags alongside the artwork, many are in favour of the freedom given to these artists, in conveying not only their creativity, but their profound political stances too.
Some have taken the opportunity to decorate the bollards with a political stance – (Photo by Alex Barilaro)
It’s yet to be seen whether the police will take a firmer stance on political artwork – as they’ve done with artwork in Hozier Lane – and a police spokesman said they would treat the artists painting bollards on a case-by-case basis.
But people are being encouraged by social media to go out and decorate Melbourne, contributing to what Daniel Andrews describes as “the cultural capital of our nation.”
For now Boll-art remains a growing feature of Melbourne, with anonymous artists continuing to blazon their creativity on the otherwise dreary concrete slabs now littered around Melbourne, at least until they are removed for a more permanent solution.
