Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CONTEMPORARY ART
Several galleries around the city centre will be of particular interest to contemporary art lovers. Once raucously
03-9654 6000;
www.tolarnogalleries.com
;
4th fl, 104 Exhibition St; 10am-5pm Tue-Fri, 1-5pm Sat; 86,95,96) is now a serious, cerebral
03-9662 3297;
www.westspace.org.au
; Level 1, 225 Bourke St; noon-6pm Tue-Sat; 86, 95, 96) , one of Mel-
bourne's oldest nonprofit, artist-run galleries, has a varied exhibition program in a range of mediums both tradi-
tional and modern. Some of the city's most respected contemporary artists can be seen at the
Anna Schwartz
03-9654 6131;
www.annaschwartzgallery.com
; 185 Flinders Lane;
noon-6pm Tue-Fri, 1-5pm Sat)
, a standard white cube featuring often fiercely conceptual work.
Fitzroy & Around
Fitzroy, Melbourne's first suburb, long had a reputation for vice and squalor. Today, des-
pite a long bout of gentrification, it's still where creative people meet up, though now it's
more to 'do' lunch and blog about it before checking out the offerings at local 'one-off'
boutiques and vintage shops. It's also home to a bunch of art galleries.
Gertrude St, where once grannies feared to tread, is Melbourne's street of the moment.
Smith St in Collingwood has some rough edges, though talk is more of its smart restaur-
ants, cafes and boutiques rather than its down-and-out days of old. As the traditional land
of the Wurundjeri people, it's still a social spot for Aboriginal people. The streets behind
Smith are home to what were once the southern hemisphere's largest industrial com-
plexes. These former 'satanic mills' are now packed with million-dollar apartments. Bey-
ond Collingwood is similarly industrial Abbotsford, bordered by a scenic stretch of the
Yarra River.
Beyond Merri Creek is Northcote, one of Melbourne's fastest gentrifying suburbs, a
sprawling neighbourhood of wooden Federation cottages and big backyards. Its sleepy de-
meanour shifts once the sun goes down and fun-seekers hit High St.
