If you're a fan of street art, you've come to the right city to find it. Melbourne is famed for its kaleidoscopic laneways, with street art found not only on the bustling streets but in all the nooks and crannies.
Since American artist Keith Haring cast the spotlight on street art with several murals in Melbourne in 1984, urban art has spray-canned its way across the city's walls and has become an emblem of Melbourne itself: diverse, eclectic and fiercely creative.
There are a few places that are particularly well known as attractions for local and overseas visitors wanting to get a taste of the city's urban art scene - many within a stone's throw of the CBD.
So grab your camera and check out our best hotspots for graffiti and street art in the city. We've also saved you the trouble of wandering around aimlessly by including the exact location of the artworks below.
Opposite Federation Square and joining Flinders Lane with Flinders Street, the cobblestoned Hosier Lane is arguably the crux of the city's street art scene. The Lane is also sometimes dubbed as 'practice' alley as anyone can go and make their mark. Spend a while checking out every little corner of this multimedia mash-up so you don't miss out on the easily-overlooked pieces which are often the ones that make most of an impact.
Running off Flinders Lane, AC/DC Lane was named back in 2004 to pay tribute to the Australian rock band.
As you might expect, the street art features all kinds of musicians – both real and imagined. The lane was formerly home to the legendary live music venue, Cherry Bar before it moved, but still houses Peruvian restaurant Pastuso.
On a visit to Melbourne in 1984, the legendary New York artist Keith Haring created this iconic mural in Collingwood, and it has been one of the city's most beloved pieces of public art ever since.
Now one of only 31 known surviving murals across the world by Haring, it is a remarkable example of his work and legacy and is also only one of three that hasn't been revised nor repainted.
Caledonian Lane is a small laneway with a big history. The Lane was the birthplace of the now international festival, St Jerome's Laneway. The laneway, which is just off Lonsdale Street and hiding behind Swanston, has changed significantly since then, but there's still plenty of art to see.
Gumbaynggirr artist and activist Aretha Brown's mural on Fitzroy's Converse Store doesn't just look striking; it also uses a special type of paint to remove and store carbon in the atmosphere.
Drawing on multiple themes, the black-and-white mural recognises the integral role of elders as a bedrock for First Nations communities while also acknowledging the role of the Young Mob and contemporary Indigenous culture.
Right in the centre of Chinatown, the street art-laden Croft Alley winds off Little Bourke Street. At the end of the alley, past the ever-changing murals, you'll find one of Melbourne's favourite laneway bars, the three-floor Croft Institute.
Duckboard Place curves around from Flinders Lane back to AC/DC Lane. Once the place where World War II troops came to let off steam, the lane is now paved with street art, gig posters and significant murals. Duckboard Place is also home to high-end restaurants, including Lee Ho Fook.
This large graphic mural, which declares "Welcome to Sunny Fitzroy", sits on the corner of Johnson and Young Street and on the side of the long-standing live music venue The Night Cat.
It was painted back in 2009 by Melbourne street art studio Everfresh, a team of artists who use explosive colour, intricate line work, iconic characters and visual stories to make the city a mecca for street and graffiti artists alike.
Just around the corner from Bourke Street Mall, Rankins Lane is a fairly narrow, unassuming brick lane. But it's also home to this artwork (as well as a smattering of extra graffiti).
The story goes that the lane was named after Henry Johnstone Rankine, a convict who was shipped off to Sydney in 1928. A few years later, Rankine and his wife, Eliza, made their way to Melbourne, where he built a shop and residence just east of what would later become known as Rankins Lane.
Southbank's Hanover House has never looked better after local Atong Atem gave it a facelift in 2021. Commissioned to animate two facades of the building, Hanover House now features these murals in a work called 'Outdoor Living.'
The vibrant, floral murals are overlaid with neon flowers to light up the city and are inspired by Atem's collection of colonial and vintage European wallpapers.
Stevenson Lane is particularly tiny, right by the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale Street, but you can find this mural. The adjoining Tattersalls Lane you'll need to enter to reach Stevenson is also a street art hotspot.
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