Moving Galleries

During the Overload Poetry Festival in 2005, Lia met with poets Matt Hetherington and Myron Lysenko to discuss the idea of putting ‘rooku’, an Australian version of haiku, on Melbourne’s trains, the poems to be selected from public submissions. After contacting Connex, they got in touch with Stuart Weir, head of a Committee for Melbourne Future Focus Group that was working towards setting up a poetry/art project on Melbourne’s trains. Joining forces, this team of volunteers created a non-profit project to foster emerging Victorian artistic talent. The first Moving Galleries featured an exhibition of both artwork and poetry on the Melbourne train system and saw 480 decals travel around Melbourne on 20 Connex trains. The poetry was received via public submission.

Overwhelming community appreciation and support for Moving Galleries subsequently attracted funding to the project. In 2007, the project secured long-term funding enabling it to evolve from a ‘one-off’ exhibition into an ongoing non-profit initiative dedicated to promoting creativity in Melbourne’s public spaces.

In 2008, Moving Galleries expanded to incorporate all forms of poetry, and continues to feature the work of novice poets beside that of established and award-winning writers. Lia Hills and Matt Hetherington continue in their roles as poetry editors and advisors to Moving Galleries.

For information on Moving Galleries and poetry submissions see: www.movinggalleries.org