Suitcase Street

Text

Perhaps it's a Saturday morning. In the adult world, that translates into “time to go food shopping”. Or maybe you're just keen to grab a quick breakfast before your seminar on a Tuesday morning. Either way, you're headed to the bustling Queen Victoria Markets. Walking up along Franklin St, you spot a little entrance to your right, between a car park and a golf shop. Feeling adventurous, you walk in and this odd alley way, having initially seemed a little dark and dreary, quickly explodes into a mixture of different colours, paintings and objects, each one more vibrant than its neighbour. A quick scan tells you that this must be a favourite playground of Melbourne artists Sunfigo and Junky, judging by the presence of their pieces and signatures on every visible surface.

Peering towards the markets, from which you are now only approximately 50 metres away, this view is what you see.

Which artwork is the very first that speaks to you? The blue tinted paste ups that carry political messages? The mysterious broken suitcases that may be art either by design or by accident? My guess is that it is the familiar sight of a pigeon perched on the brick window ledge. “How conventional of me”, you think slightly ashamedly, “birds are everywhere”.