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Queen Victoria Market (Final case study research)

Queen Victoria Market – Tell me your very first thoughts hearing this place, is it just simply a market that you can think of?

Well, “much more than just market, it is a great popular tourist attraction as a soul of Melbourne to understand more about Melbourne culture and history for such a long time of establishment” – Kathleen, my new friend in Mates Team RMIT suggested me. Of course, there are also shops, all kinds of food with iconic food hall and heritage shed for you to explore, especially with foodaholic like me. Certainly, all of these reasons are worth triggering my curiosity to visit and find more information about Vic Market.

Officially opened on 20 March 1878 with the spread over 7 hectares in the Southern Hemisphere, Queen Victoria Market itself signifies the long and important social history, life and also the role in the economy. It is also known as the largest market in the 19th century in Melbourne and one of the largest market in the world, also the only one that still remains its activities today from a group of market opened a little bit later after the opening of Vic Market site in that time.

What is more to talk about its historical landmark? The market site is also in connection with the culture of Aboriginal people as it is a part of Kulin Nations’ land. Especially, between 1837 and 1854, it is an Aboriginal burial area of Old Melbourne Cemetery, also the first official cemetery of Melbourne, where two Tasmanian Aboriginal men, Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner, are buried. This cemetery is also recognized as Aboriginal historic place under the Aboriginal Heritage Act. At that time, this cemetery site is divided into many areas based on religious denominations such as for use by Christian, followed by the burial area for Jewish, Aboriginal and Society of Friends (Quaker). This site is also home of the remains of approximately 10000 settlers, including John Batman, a father founding a city. This Cemetery site located between Queen, Franklin and Peel streets the current D Shed’s northern edge. Now, A cark park and some trading sheds replace it.

                                             Old Melbourne Cemetery

There’s also the controversial history about this cemetery and Vic Market. In 1853, the cemetery is unappropriated for the development of the city as the city is growing and it is also too close to the central area which results in larger site of Melbourne General Cemetery opened in Carlton in the same year. A market then is established next to the cemetery in 1859, along with the legislation is approved to exhuming all bodies in Old Cemetery and the permission of the Market Lands Act 1917 to extend the market into the rest of the cemetery. During 1877 - 1922, the market is extended significantly with 914 exhumation cases in 1917. Moreover, during that time, approximately 100 bodies are exhumed and and re-interred, mostly at Melbourne General Cemetery and Fawkner Cemetery. There are many bodies buried beneath this current cark park but there are no official records of them. Today, there is a bluestone memorial for Batman at the original cemetery site at the market.

There are also many the architectural significance of this market that I can just give out some of them. It is presented through the iron gates under the Produce Arch and between the shops and the Meat Hall on Elizabeth Street, showing the Melbourne coat of arms, along with the lace work.  From the Heritage Trail of Queen Victoria Market, it is describe that “Central to the coat of arms is the silver shield with the cross of Saint George representing Melbourne’s links to England and the four escutcheons of a fleece, a bull, a ship and a whale; represent the four major activities on which Melbourne’s economy was founded – livestock, wool, shipping and whaling.” In addition, the last building built in the market, the Dairy Produce Hall (the Deli Hall) which is such an art building. It is build with marble for the countertops as its natural properties and unique design to keep the hall and its products cool. Moreover, it is also special because of the assists ventilation and skylights providing natural light for better product display and the special white frame stems from the use of marble in Buchan in Victoria and the wooden window frames.

                                The Dairy Hall now versus in the past

Surviving until now, it is a bustle market that you can find anything from meat, fish, and poultry to clothes and souvenirs also experience the iconic building with special design. You can also see the multiculturalism presented here through many kinds of food booths from many countries such as Viet Nam, Malaysia, Mexico, Greek and Italy. There are also some special events such as summer night market only on Wednesday, which i was so lucky when spontaneously visiting the market on Wednesday. It opens late until 10pm that day with lots of activities and food in which live music is such an amazing on that I enjoy. By the way, there is the upcoming Winter Night Market on Wednesday 7 June to notice if you miss the Summer one. There are also many tours you can take to explore the market, just have a look at its website to find more information if you feel interested in it.

                                 Live music at Summer Night Market

Here is the website for you:

http://www.qvm.com.au/

References:

http://www.qvm.com.au/about/history/

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/building-and-development/urban-planning/local-area-planning/queen-victoria-market-precinct-renewal-plan/history-heritage/Pages/qvm-history-culture-heritage.aspx

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/building-and-development/urban-planning/local-area-planning/queen-victoria-market-precinct-renewal-plan/history-heritage/pages/aboriginal-heritage.aspx

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/building-and-development/urban-planning/local-area-planning/queen-victoria-market-precinct-renewal-plan/history-heritage/pages/old-melbourne-cemetery.aspx

http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01215b.htm

http://melbournewalks.com.au/the-old-melbourne-cemetery-queen-victoria-market-tour/

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/melbournes-first-cemetery-lurks-beneath-queen-victoria-market/news-story/ed08f30f53f32c6bb8df21bd1676bc4f

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Shrine of Remembrance

Looking for something to visit in the CBD Melbourne? Shrine of Remembrance is one the must-visit-attraction I would like to recommend to you guys.

Built between 1928 and 1934, Shrine of Remembrance is imperative a historical landmark of Australia used to commemorate people in Victoria who sacrificed their lives in the World War I for the country’s peace. Especially, Anzac day, a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, gets the much more focus for commemoration in the Shrine. Certainly, it is embedded meaningful stories about the history and the country’s heroes to learn, share and importantly preserve.

I really love its design and architecture. It is very glorious. Its design is inspired from symbolic Greek temple with columned façade. Located on a small hill, The Shrine of Remembrance is surrounded 13 hectares of parkland, which is considered as landscape of memory, giving you a beautiful and panoramic sight and solemn atmosphere from the monument view, as you can see from the pictures below :)

Moreover, I heard that at 11am on 11th November each year, you can also witness a unique ray of light. On that day, a ray of light sun from the gap in the roof illuminates the word love on the Remembrance Stone, which is below the Sanctuary floor. This is because the special design of the Shrine with 2 mirrors installed. I am so eager to wait and see this sunlight on that day.

This is how the light illuminates the word love (adapted from Theage 2014)

One thing to remember is that the Shrine opening time from 10am to 5pm, as It was 5pm when I arrived here the first time, so I needed to come again the day after.  Another place you can visit and go for a beautiful walk is the Royal Botanic Garden nearby the Shrine. Come and enjoy your trip around the city. :)

References:

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/eleven-things-you-may-not-know-about-remembrance-day-20141110-11jst7.html

https://www.expedia.com.au/Shrine-Of-Remembrance-Melbourne.d6061039.Attraction

https://whatson.melbourne.vic.gov.au/Placestogo/MelbourneLandmarks/Historic/Pages/4465.aspx

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White Night - Amazing Night in Melbourne

It is impressive to me knowing that there are a lot of public holidays and festivals in Melbourne such as Labour Day public holiday, Good Friday public holiday, White Night event and Moomba festival.

These Festivals and events certainly are great opportunities for anyone who wants to get into and explore the culture of Melbourne in a way. How lucky I was when arriving in Melbourne a few days before White Night, which was held on 18 February this year.

Originally invented in Paris in 2002, White Night event then became widespread with its presence in more than 20 cities around the world as a great opportunity to feature city’s characteristics. In Melbourne, the very first event in 2013 was very successful with about 300 000 people participated in the night event. The event then becomes one of significant culture in Melbourne supported with approximately 500 000 people come to enjoy White Night annually.

Creatively planning with cutting-edge technologies, White Night turns Melbourne amazing night which I have never seen. There are 5 main activities under specific topics in different area across the city which are performance, installation/visual art, exhibition, projection/film and music. It’s such great experience that I can’t just tell it within these words. I love getting into the crowd, observing people with the sparkle in their eyes, friendly saying hi to strangers and enjoying the night together. There are such creative pieces of art such as projection mapping and lighting as well on the ancient walls and buildings. It’s all colorful and lively with music and animation. “Purple raining” is another interesting activity when I can walk in the purple rain with the crystal umbrella with other people and enjoy the cold of 11 degree Celsius which i have never experienced in Viet Nam. Besides these activities, there are also many kind of foods and drinks served in White Night, from food trucks, coffee shops to restaurants. However, alcohol is prohibited to consumed in this public event which is a great policy to me, as i think it can prevent some unexpected issues caused by getting drunk such as accidents or violence in public areas.

Again, it is very interesting and I love that feeling of spending all night long at White Night even though I can not visit all locations in the map. Let's enjoy this night through some pictures i took here.

                                                     Purple rain

                                                Music performance

If you are curious about this night event, watch my videos here:

https://youtu.be/7fHXTx6WFlw

https://youtu.be/mlcXqssaw4Q

https://youtu.be/Gn3QfkOectw

References:

White Night Melbourne 2017, ‘History’, WhiteNightMelbourne, 18 February, viewed 20 April 2017, <https://whitenightmelbourne.com.au/about/history>

White Night Melbourne 2017, ‘Map’, WhiteNightMelbourne, 18 February, viewed 20 April 2017, <https://whitenightmelbourne.com.au/white-night-melb-map.pdf>

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First impression at Melbourne Museum with First People

It’s very interesting for me to explore and understand more about Australia, especially Melbourne, when I am here for cross campus exchange program. “Aboriginal people and cultural diversity” are the very first information I heard when arriving here, which makes me more curious to get into the country’s culture and society.

This curiosity leads me to Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre with the First People Exhibition at Melbourne Centre in Melbourne Museum, where creatively presents the information of Aboriginal people with documents, pictures with description and cutting-edge technologies. There are many interactive screens so that people can interact, touch and play with it to listen about aboriginal stories and song.

I am very impressed by how the flow of information is carefully designed and divided into smaller sessions to engage customers and effectively tell the story, compared to my own countries, Viet Nam, as the museums have no technological equipment supported to tell history.

“Wominjeka”, an Aboriginal word stands for “welcome”. This first welcome session is the one I love the most as I can hear many different languages of language families or groups by pressing the message stick on the language map. There are 38 languages and 11 languages families in Victoria and each stick represents the language that belongs to its land. In the period of colonization, around 700 languages spoken by Indigenous groups (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages) in Australia but some of them are lost through generations. The diversity of languages of these people somehow gives me a clearer picture about the mix of cultures in Australia. Language is apart of their culture, showing their identity and where they come from with significant beliefs, customs and traditions.

Of course, language is just a small part to understand one's culture and I hope i can explore more about cultures in Melbourne during my time here.

 References:

Bunjilaka Melbourne Museum n.d, ‘Victorian Aboriginal Languages’, MuseumVictoria, viewed 21 March 2017, <https://museumvictoria.com.au/bunjilaka/visiting/first-peoples/victorian-languages/>

Australians Together n.d, ‘Who are Indigenous Australian’, Australianstogther, Viewed 21 March 2017, <http://www.australianstogether.org.au/stories/detail/who-are-indigenous-australians-4>

Australia Museum n.d, ‘Introduction to Indigenous Australia’, Australianmuseum, Viewed 21 March 2017, <https://australianmuseum.net.au/indigenous-australia-introduction>

Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages, ‘Our mission is simple, that “We will revive, strengthen & speak our Aboriginal Language(s)”’, VACLANG, Viewed 21 March 2017, <http://www.vaclang.org.au/>