Location:
Melbourne Arts Precinct
This walk begins at ACCA and concludes at Art Play Children’s Playground on Birrarung Marr. Key sites along the way include Ron Robertson Swann’s sculpture, Vault; the National Gallery of Victoria, St Kilda Road; Inge King’s sculpture Forward Surge; Mirka Mora’s mural near Flinders Street Station; Kristen Visbal’s sculpture Fearless Girl (currently at Federation Square); and the National Gallery of Victoria Australia, Federation Square.
Access key locations here on Google Maps »
Distance:
1.8km, one way, approx. 30 mins walk.
Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.
New parents are frequently told about the importance of art in a child’s development. From fostering creativity to visual, motor and social skills, art is considered a vehicle for enriching children’s communication abilities, nourishing new thoughts, and aiding expressive exploration. But how do we locate motherhood out of the domestic space and into the public realm, particularly the worlds of contemporary and public art? In her piece for Six Walks, Eleanor Jackson considers the ways in which mothers and caretakers occupy public space, blurring and reinforcing conventional understandings of mothering – using galleries, parks, libraries and the streets in a manner not always anticipated by planners and designers – all the while performing the role of “being mothers” with all the associated complex, gendered connotations that this brings.
Eleanor Jackson is a Filipino Australian poet, performer, and arts producer. She is author of A Leaving, (Vagabond Press), and her live album, One Night Wonders, is produced by Going Down Swinging. Eleanor is committed to developing and hosting events and experiences that showcase the diversity of poetic language, writers and audiences. She is the producer of the Melbourne Poetry Map, Vice-Chair of the Stella Prize and a Board Member of Queensland Poetry Festival. Eleanor is currently Chair, and was formerly Editor in Chief, of Peril Magazine, an online magazine celebrating Asian Australian arts and culture.
Curator: Annika Kristensen
Audio technician: Simon Cotter
Access:
The majority of this walk is accessible via even paved surfaces, with alternatives to stairs and uneven surfaces. Accessible parking bays are available outside the front of ACCA. For tram access, please note that #1 trams are not currently low floor trams. For low floor trams and raised platforms, we recommend tram routes along St Kilda Rd, which stop at the and Grant Street (Police Memorial) stop 17. Please note that there are stairs and uneven surfaces in the last section of the walk, from Federation Square to Art Play. Lift access to Art Play, via Federation Wharf, is located at the corner of Princes Walk and St Kilda Road. Guide dogs and assistance animals are welcome inside ACCA and across all areas of this walk.
Six Walks has been conceived to be ideally listened to in situ, with headphones on a personal mobile device. Maps, directions and access notes are included with each walk to assist with orientation. ACCA reminds participants to be aware of their surroundings and to adhere to road safety guidelines at all times. Please note that when undertaking a walk, participants must assume personal responsibility for any liability, injury, loss, or damage in any way connected with their experience of Six Walks.
Recorded in a podcast format, Six Walks can also be listened to from anywhere and at any time.
