Curated Urban Culture

Graffiti culture has almost become the city’s “business card.” Many travel guides and school orientation materials mention “street art culture.” This started to raise some questions: Is it truly a “naturally formed culture,” or a deliberately maintained or even packaged cultural image?

In her book <Street Art, Public City : Law, Crime and the Urban Imagination>,Alison Young explores the contradictory attitude Melbourne has towards street art: on the one hand, it severely cracks down on unauthorized graffiti; on the other hand, it integrates certain works into the city’s brand. This made me realize that the “graffiti art” I usually see might not be the whole picture.

Later, I explored several alleyways and noticed an important phenomenon: in places like Hosier Lane, graffiti is updated quickly, but the overall atmosphere is “tacitly approved” and even maintained; however, in some more remote neighborhoods, any random graffiti is quickly removed.

At this point, I thought of some “ internet-famous building” in China. For example, some tourist areas deliberately create antique-style streets and traditional-style buildings for tourists to take photos and check in. They may appear culturally rich, but many are actually newly built, designed specifically for tourism and consumption. To some extent, it’s a replicated culture, not a naturally formed one.

I’m starting to feel that Melbourne’s graffiti seems to follow a similar logic.

For example, The Guardian reported on Hosier Lane’s gradual transformation into a tourist attraction. For example, The Guardian reported on the gradual transformation of Hossier Lane into a tourist attraction. The article revealed the irony in the police’s rhetoric: while the government cracked down on graffiti crime, it simultaneously praised graffiti as it became a “tourist attraction.” Graffiti art, like controlled art commodities, pandered to the public and tourists through government demands.

Personally, I feel it’s more like a “carefully planned cultural landscape.”

Frankly, Melbourne’s graffiti seems to fall into two categories: one can be photographed, shared, and even have guided tours arranged; the other is quickly removed and even results in fines. The former becomes a cultural asset, the latter an urban problem. But essentially, they are the same thing.

I’m a bit confused here because I don’t know how to evaluate this phenomenon. On the one hand, I admit that this “organization” does make the city more orderly and makes it easier for outsiders like myself to access street art; but on the other hand, I also feel that it stifles more avant-garde, even rebellious elements. If graffiti was initially an intervention in space, can it still be considered an intervention when it’s confined to certain alleyways?

Another question that makes me think is that I myself am part of this system. For example, I go to Hosier Lane to take photos, post them on social media, and even recommend them to friends. But I rarely pay attention to the graffiti that isn’t “protected.” In other words, the culture I see has been filtered out, and I’m further reinforcing this filter.

So, back to the original question: Is graffiti Melbourne’s business card?

I’m now more inclined to say yes, but it’s a carefully designed card.

It undoubtedly represents a creative city image and gives Melbourne a sense of cultural depth; however, like the artificially created “traditional architectural attractions” in China, it is also a selected, organized, and even, to some extent, packaged version of culture.

So, can this culture still be considered “authentic”? Or is culture inherently destined to be copied and utilized?

Reference

Young, A. (2014). Street art, public city : Law, crime and the urban imagination. Taylor & Francis Group.

ABC News. (2020, February 10). Melbourne’s Hosier Lane street art, graffiti, painted over in weekend “vandalism” attack. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-10/hosier-lane-street-art-destroyed-by-spray-paint-vandals/11948762

Nicholas, J. (2025, January 6). Giant colouring book: How money and paint mix in Melbourne’s street art scene. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jan/07/giant-colouring-book-how-money-and-paint-mix-in-melbournes-street-art-scene