Don't miss this weekend's fusing of art, hip-hop and street culture that is The Alley Project, writes Jesse Kuch

Graffiti as an art form has always struggled with gaining a positive perception in both the media and wider community. Many, especially in places like Cairns, view it as nothing more than a public nuisance or a scribble on the wall and attempts to convince authorities that it is a legitimate and involved form of modern art has often fallen on deaf ears.

That’s why initiatives like The Alley Project, under construction on Grafton St, are so important in bringing this colourful and vibrant form of expression into the
public eye.

Created as a joint initiative between contemporary arts collective The Upholstery, fashion boutique Taste-y, cafe Caffiend and a group of Cairns’ top graffiti artists, The Alley Project is a 75m-long wall dedicated to legal street art.

For the past month, the laneway has been a hive of activity with a dedicated group of artists and sponsors helping to bring the once-boring brick wall to life in stunning tropical style.

timeOUT caught up with some of the people behind the project this week to see just how it all came about.

Daniel "Wally" Wallwork is one of the region’s most recognised contemporary artists.

As a key member of The Upholstery, a local collective which has been responsible for many of the city’s most innovative artistic projects over the past decade or so, Daniel is no stranger to the people of Cairns.

Into graffiti since his high school days, he is one of the most experienced and talented exponents of street art the city has to offer.

"I got into it back in the old days, during the ’90s when I was at high school at St Mary’s," he says.

"My old man was a spray painter and that’s my trade too. I was always into art, so it was a natural progression really. I got inspired when I picked up a copy of a magazine called Hype in my local newsagent.

"I was pretty ignorant on the national front and there wasn’t much around in Cairns at the time, except a couple of guys who were writing under the names Twisted and Sim. They were my local influence, but largely I was self-taught."

Unlike many who start out painting on the wrong side of the law, Wally cut his teeth doing legal projects at places like Graft’n’Arts, a government sponsored youth arts agency.

"In my early days, I did lots of legal jobs working with kids," he says.

"When you’ve got 20 kids looking at you thinking you’re the man, it forces you to learn pretty quick. It was a lot of trial and error but luckily most of the time the kids didn’t know any better so it gave me a chance to experiment and get it down right."

He says he hopes The Alley Project will help open the eyes of the community to graffiti as a perfectly acceptable modern art form.

"With street art, the nature of it means you’re often damned if you do, damned if you don’t," he says.

"No matter what, there will always be the bad elements.

"But, hopefully, The Alley Project will change some people’s perception and open new doors for street artists in Cairns.

"With the council, media and press, they often either really condemn it or praise it, there seems to be a lot
of confusion.

"I think the public in general don’t really know how to approach it. The businesses in the vicinity of the project have been really great and are vocalising their support, so I do think it will change how the public views it.

"We’ve been working on the project for over three weeks and every day we’ve had 30 or 40 tourists (at least) coming up and taking photos and posing with us. Hopefully, it will show both the community and authorities how it’s done properly and, hopefully, make it a lot smoother for us to get other projects up and running."

Josie Zulaikha, the owner of local fashion and street culture store Taste-y, new coffee bar Caffiend and driving force behind getting the wall happening, agrees.

"I think it’s going to be a massive tourist attraction for the city, like one of those ‘must visit’ kind of places,"
she says.

"It’s going to be updated every six months to a year to keep it fresh."

Josie says the project couldn’t have got off the ground without the strong support of their landlord as well as a multitude of local businesses.

"Since relocating to Grafton St in May last year, we had our eyes on the wall," she says.

"We asked the landlord, Brett Koppen, and, of course, he wasn’t sure about it at the beginning, so we really had to convince him.

"It took about a year, showing him other legal walls for him to come to the party but he really has gotten fully behind it. As you may have seen, he rendered and painted the wall for us before we began, it’s probably the smoothest graffiti wall in the world."

The project has also received sponsorship and donations from both local and national businesses including Doug and Helen Girle, Luxury Paints, Aeroskills, Scribe clothing, Blue Sky Brewery and Big Cat Tours.

"It’s really important that we had these guys supporting us," Josie says.

"No one got paid for this. Everyone is donating their time."

The massive launch on Saturday has another coup as well – internationally renowned Melbourne street artist Phibs will be in attendance.

Known around the world for distinct fusion of urban and tribal motifs, Phibs has been commissioned to do large-scale artworks for companies like Absolut Vodka and MTV as well as to decorate a number of buildings in Sydney such as Max Brenner Chocolates in Paddington, The Glow Cafe in Newtown and a number of alleyways in Sydney and Melbourne.

He has also travelled abroad, where you can find his work on the walls of international street art capitals Berlin and New York.

"He’s absolutely huge in the scene, so it’s pretty exciting to have someone of his standing on board," Josie says.

"The theme is tropical, so he’s going to have to work in with that but he’s got a couple of spots allocated on the wall for him to do his thing.

"It’s a big thing for Cairns to have someone like him doing artwork here."

Both Wally and Josie sound equally excited about the premier this weekend with not only the artwork on show but breakdancers, MCs (including Townsville’s Buttah, one of the Far North’s best-loved rappers), great food by Fresca Wild Foods and, of course, coffee by Caffiend.

"It’s going to be bigger than Ben Hur on Saturday and I think it will have some real longevity," Wally says.

Josie echoes Wally’s sentiments.

"It’s a really positive thing to the city and is bringing a certain element of culture that hasn’t really seen or experienced before.

"It’s the whole Melbourne vibe with the alleyway. I’m just really excited about the whole thing."

>> The Alley Project goes down in the alleyway at 78 Grafton St from 4pm to midnight on Saturday. Entry is by donation. Licensed bar from 6pm.

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