Saeko, Bourke Street 2016

Summary

Artist Statement ‘City Songs’ was the result of a 2016 arts residency for the City of Melbourne, for which we were asked to document, through text and photography, the land that was designated at the foundation of Melbourne as the ‘11th block’. This is the rectangle bordered by Swanston, Russell, Bourke and Collins Streets. Working alongside social historian Professor Andrew May and his team from the Melbourne History Workshop of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne, we walked along streets and alleys, climbed and descended staircases, and were welcomed into shops and studios. We discovered the rich chorus of voices that make up the people who work, live and inhabit our city. We hope that the ‘City Songs’ project allows you to hear the music of the contemporary city as well as the voices that formed its songs in the past. Zoe Ali & Christos Tsiolkas