Melbourne trams to become rolling canvases for International Arts Festival

Trams in the Australian city of Melbourne will become moving works of art over the coming weeks, as the city’s International Arts Festival rolls into town.

Inspecting the first Art Tram to hit the rails on Tuesday, Victoria State Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley said the designs on the world’s largest tram network are “a great way to brighten commuters’ days with some of the best contemporary art Victoria has to offer.”

Depicting a 40-year-old Melbourne dining institution, Nyein Chan Aung recreated the Supper Inn Chinese restaurant in the style of Leonardo da Vinci’s renowned masterpiece The Last Supper.

“The trams show that Melbourne isn’t just as a city where cultural experiences only exist inside galleries, museums and theaters – it’s a city where creativity is waiting for you at the tram stop,” Foley said.

With a total of eight trams to be transformed by local artists, other designs will feature works from photographer Kent Morris, street and stencil artist Vandal, printmaker Sophie Westerman, communications designer Gene Bawden and painter Nusra Latif Qureshi.

There will also be a Community Art Tram designed by 8-year-old students at Beaconhills College in Berwick.

While the Tram Art program has run for the past seven years, prior to that, a similar scheme called the Transporting Art Initiative was also in place for around 25 years from 1978 to 2003.

To pay homage to that era, a recreation of a 1986 tram will be painted by artist Lesley Dumbrell.

The International Arts Festival will run until October 20.