Quiet removal of popular street art sparks protection calls
A longstanding Kent Town mural designed by a world-renowned painter has been quietly covered up, sparking outrage from nearby residents and calls for street art protection.
Kent Town residents are upset after a longstanding mural depicting a Geisha-inspired woman was removed from a Rundle Street building.
The mural, titled Shinka, was painted in 2016 by world-renowned Irish street artist Fin DAC as part of the Little Rundle Street Art Project, which was launched by owners of the former Tin Cat Café in Kent Town.
The artist is best known for his large murals and canvas work and has created art pieces all over the world, including France, Spain, Cambodia, Tahiti and the United States, and contributed to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
He also painted ‘Zaluuokhin’ in the city’s East End on Vardon Avenue and ‘Simchoon’ on the Lower Napier building at the Adelaide University campus.
Fin DAC told InDaily he found out about Shinka’s removal after receiving social media messages from followers and Adelaide locals.
“As much as I understand the disappointment – and it’s genuinely touching to see how much affection the mural had built up over the last ten years – this is, unfortunately, the ephemeral nature of street art,” DAC said.
“The exact same thing happened in my hometown of Cork, Ireland, where a much-loved mural was removed by someone who perhaps didn’t fully appreciate the connection public artworks can develop with a community.
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“Having experienced that before and having witnessed the subsequent vitriol directed at the property owner, I’d always encourage people to consider the possibility of an innocent mistake before assuming malicious intent.”
While he said the property owner was “entitled to make a decision about their own premises”, he called for greater protections to prominent artworks.
“Perhaps situations like this highlight the need for some form of heritage or cultural protection for public artworks that have become meaningful landmarks, so they can’t be removed without at least some level of community consultation,” DAC said.
“My experiences painting in Adelaide have always been overwhelmingly positive—from Kent Town to the CBD, to Adelaide University itself. If an opportunity arose to return and create something new for the city, I’d be delighted to do so.”
Shinka was one of several street art murals in Kent Town, with prominent Adelaide-born and London-based artist Jimmy C also painting a Rundle Street mural in 2016. At the time, Norwood Payneham and St Peters Council provided six artists with funding of $1000 to cover time and material costs to create the outdoor gallery.
The removal follows a development application sent to Norwood Payneham and St Peters Council in January seeking a change in use for the Rundle Street building to be used by Flagship Distillery from a warehouse to a distillery and associated bar.
InDaily understands Flagship Distillery was unaware and had no say in the mural’s removal, with the decision instead initiated by the property owner. InDaily is not suggesting the property owner engaged in any wrongdoing.
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Kent Town resident Dr David Baker, who lives a few houses away from the mural, said he was “extremely disappointed” to see it removed.
“Since the painting was made, we’ve wandered outside and seen people there taking photographs of it and some of them were international tourists,” Baker said.
“That’s the definition of culture, and that’s why we have street art. It’s another reason to encourage people to come to Kent Town to see this stuff.
“We know the art won’t be there forever, but as some people have said, there maybe could have been consultation with the locals which would have produced a more amicable outcome in this.”
Norwood Payneham and St Peters councillor Sandy Wilkinson said it was a “shock” to see the mural removed, describing it as a “great loss for Kent Town”.
“I always loved that mural and think it was a beautiful addition to the street,” Wilkinson told InDaily.
“The mural was a high point in that part of the streetscape, which is now just a fairly boring warehouse building.”
Wilkinson, who is an expert in heritage and design, said there would be no way of restoring Fin DAC’s painting.
“Once you’ve painted over a mural, you can’t strip the paint off to ever reveal it, because the paint stripper will take off the mural paint as well as the paint over the top,” he said.
“So, once it’s covered over, it’s ruined and lost forever. Unless there was some agreement or arrangement at the time that the council provided funding for the public art, council probably is powerless.
“Provisions should be put in place to protect the investment of public money in art projects, so they don’t just get painted over.”
A spokesperson for Norwood Payneham and St Peters Council said the removal of a mural on private property does not require an assessment from the Council Assessment Panel.
“The mural was on private property and as such it is at the discretion of the property owner,” the spokesperson said.
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