Can’t Do Tomorrow, Melbourne’s New Urban Art Festival
Inspired by the creative CBD confines of the countries culture capital, we at Ovolo chose to call Melbourne our first Australian home with Laneways By Ovolo. Bringing to light a sensory designer hotel experience through a dramatically smart style reception, dimly lit corridors accentuated by brightly coloured doors and illuminated custom artwork, it’s about time we gave back to our urban art muse.
Born from street art influences found within the surrounding hidden laneways and iconic street art, Ovolo Laneway’s, is a modern design den reimagining the urban canvas of Melbourne from its primo position atop Little Bourke Street. After seven years overlooking the CBD, it’s time we get our hands a little dirty down on street level.
Joining forces with more than 100 legendary and emerging artists and creatives from around the globe, Ovolo has come to the come to the party at Melbourne’s new urban art festival – Can’t Do Tomorrow – for its epic inaugural year to celebrate urban art and contemporary culture.
Kicking on at Kensington’s iconic underground urban art Eden, The Facility, covered in murals by some of the city’s most prolific artists and a maze network within, 20-29 February, Laneways By Ovolo are offering a restorative after hours home base to Can’t Do Tomorrow artists and attendees. But before you book your ticket, and bag a stay at Ovolo to extend your urban art experience, read on to navigate your way through Can’t Do Tomorrow’s ode to Australia’s urban underground.
Can’t Do Tomorrow, presented by Urban List
UNLEASH
Get ready to flash your cash as more than 40 emerging and legendary uartists of the street scene upon up the urban art world to you, showcasing and selling their works. The conditions are simple; you like it, you buy it. Pick your art passion poison from a range of disciplines including painting, writing, video, sculpture, installation, prints and stencil design.
UNLIMITED
Open from 20 till 29 February, you have plenty of time to crawl your way out of The Factory’s immersive urban art rabbit hole of Can’t Do Tomorrow, curated by Director of Just Another Agency, Toby Benador. Encounter dark dreamscapes and experience whimsical wonderlands as you explore a series of fantastic environments, installations and unique murals.
Curator, Tony Benador
WHAT TO DO
TALKS
Feed your brain with TALKS sharing insights into nuanced urban art practices of plastics recycling and stencil workshop. A series of WORKSHOPS programs will see industry leaders and legends and game changing newcomers give their take on the urban art world.
Urban Culture icon, Aaron Rose.
One legend with a story greater than his industry reputation is Aaron Rose. Starting out as a basically homeless young adult in New York, Aaron took a shot when an abandoned storefront came up for rent on Ludlow Street (the most dangerous heroin street in the city). Leasing it at $400 a month for 2,000 square feet, Aaron and two of his fellow struggling artist friends didn’t realise the impact this move would make on their futures.
All it took was the hanging of a discarded supermarket sign above the space by street savvy Aaron, who’d scrawled ‘Alleged Gallery’ over the top and one of America’s most iconic urban culture hubs was born.
Becoming an urban art legend saw Aaron be privy to the many stages across the urban art evolution. The moments that stand out to him “when it changed from tagging to “street art” which I most certainly had a hand in. When it was just vandalism there was something magic and unhinged about the whole experience and the culture. While I still love the art, it’s all pretty safe now.” When asked where he saw the industry moving from here, Aaron shared that his “…hope would be that the aesthetic could move away from design-based images into something more conceptual/political. We’ll see.”
LISTEN
Further on the urban art agenda is a long list of sensory interactive art pieces and LISTEN live sets from key local players who contribute to the urban art scene through their music medium, setting the Can’t Do Tomorrow tune.
EAT + DRINK
Feed yourself because after all the above, you’re going to have to refuel if you want to keep on working your way through the epic urban art scene offering at Can’t Do Tomorrow. With coffee covered at every turn for the caffeine fiends, urban art enthusiasts can fuel up on all kinds of dietary needs below in Tallow’s, pizza glorious pizza by the Best Pizzeria of 2018 – 400 Gradi food truck. Greenhouse Bar, brought to you by The Innocent Bystander will be ready to wet your whistle on Level 1, while Purnell’s Loft Bar awaits with a Four Pillars gin takeover above.
BUY
Finally, feed others growth with Homie Upcycled as the urban art festival’s official charity partner HoMie who will for the first time be displaying and selling its unique Upcycled collection. 100% of HoMie’s profits will go directly towards achieving its mission of supporting young people affected by homelessness or hardship through social impact programs.
Check out the festival’s program for all the stuff you can do at this inaugural urban art festival.
ARTISTS
See the full list of exhibiting artists here.
STAY
If you’re feeling lucky, take a chance on Ovolo and look out on @urbanlistmelb and enter the competition to win a night’s stay at Laneways By Ovolo.
However, if you’re ready to go steady with Ovolo, click the links below to access our friendly promo code for your next stay at any Ovolo across Australia:
Brisbane
Canberra
Melbourne
Sydney
Black out dates apply.