In 1984, the American street artist Keith Haring visited Australia, and created a number of significant works here, including a repainting of the Water Wall at the National Gallery of Victoria in his trademark style, and including this mural, painted on the wall of what was the Collingwood Technical School. Haring’s work has been acknowledged as helping introduce street art to mainstream art audiences, and his work was entwined with social and political activism, particularly around gay rights, HIV/AIDS advocacy and awareness, and social and economic equality. The decision to preserve the mural as a piece of street art, was the subject of debate, however the mural has been conserved and restored through collaborations between Arts Victoria (now Culture Victoria), the City of Yarra, and Heritage Victoria, and the mural is on the Victorian Heritage register. The door of the mural, which features Haring’s signature and his iconic crawling baby motif, was stolen shortly after the mural was painted, but was anonymously returned to Arts Victoria in 2013, once the conservation work on the mural was underway. The City of Yarra’s website dedicated to the mural can be accessed here, including a media, video and photo archive: http://melbourneharingmural.com.au/ . A 2013 documentary on the mural and its conservation is hosted here by Culture Victoria: https://cv.vic.gov.au/stories/creative-life/keith-haring-mural-collingwood/keith-haring-uncovered/ (transcript also available)
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