ANTI-TOURISM POSTCARDS

In July of 2020, as Melbourne entered its now infamous second lockdown, the state was rife with stories of Melburnians disregarding expert medical advice and fleeing to regional areas.

The residents of these regions were sharing concerns that their towns did not have the infrastructure to handle an outbreak. And as Melbourne approached a critical tipping point, some individuals were putting the rest of the state at the same risk.

Given the failure of serious advice and messaging to resonate I decided to channel the voices of regional Victoria into a series of tongue-in-cheek ‘anti-tourism’ postcards directed at their fellow residents of Melbourne.

The images went instantly viral, generating millions of impressions across almost every major news publication, print and digital, a host of radio networks and even 7 News. The response from regional Victoria was emphatic, with the postcards being liked and shared thousands upon thousands of times across social media. A heavy volume of requests for ‘merch’ was met with the creation of an online store that included clothing, stickers and towels, with proceeds collected for charity.

In October, once the lockdown was lifted, I recreated the series, this time welcoming everyone back and encouraging Melburnians to go and support the rest of the state as Victoria was finally whole again.

While the postcards drew some ire for their tone of voice, the vast majority of Victorians, from both Melbourne and beyond, embraced the message in both instances.

The postcards have been included in the State Library of Victoria Collection as well as the Melbourne Museum Pandemic Collection which aims to document various aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic in Victoria for future generations.