The City of Port Phillip is delivering the ‘Balaclava Multicultural Mural Festival’ through funding from the Victorian Government’s Multicultural Business Precinct Revitalisation Program. The program aims to bring more colour, energy and visitors to Balaclava while celebrating the people, cultures and stories that make Carlisle Street and its surrounds unique. The Festival also seeks to strengthen social cohesion by fostering belonging, intercultural understanding, mutual respect and connection between the diverse communities who live, work, trade in and visit the precinct.
To be held between 1 – 14 March 2027, this major public art and placemaking initiative will commission a series of large-scale street art murals along Carlisle Street, extending from Chapel Street through the Balaclava shopping precinct and station area towards Carlisle Avenue. Together, the murals will form a public art trail intended to encourage visitation to the precinct, support local business, improve the public realm, strengthen Balaclava’s identity as a vibrant multicultural destination, and provide welcoming public places in which diverse communities can see their stories and experiences respectfully reflected.
The Festival is underpinned by a commitment to social cohesion, inclusion and respect for cultural diversity. Artists should respond to the stories, cultural perspectives, lived experiences and communities connected to the precinct, contributing to a distinctive sense of place and strengthening community connection through public art and cultural storytelling.
The City of Port Phillip strongly encourages applications from artists of culturally diverse backgrounds, First Peoples artists, artists with disability, LGBTQIA+ artists and artists from other underrepresented communities.
There is a information session and workshop for any Artists interested in applying for this EOI at Space2b Social Design Monday 19th October 2026 at 11am to 1.30pm.
For more information click here
