No Fixed Address Lane

Elizabeth Yanyi Close, Shane Mankitya Cook and Thomas Readett

This mural is part of the City of Music Laneway Project to celebrate No Fixed Address Lane.

Elizabeth Yanyi Close is a Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara woman and professional Contemporary Aboriginal Visual Artist based in the inner south of Adelaide. Close has a dynamic multi-disciplinary visual arts practice that speaks to both her own, personal connection to country, and the concept of connection to place and space more broadly.

Shane Mankitya Cook is a Guwa and Wulli Wulli man with family connections to Cherbourg, Queensland. Cook was born on Kaurna country and grew up in the northern suburbs of Adelaide and is internationally and nationally recognised as a prominent Australian Aboriginal aerosol artist and youth and cultural mentor. Shane has been adopted by and named Mankitya which translates to "the scarred one" by the local Kaurna community in Adelaide, South Australia. The creator of community art and mentoring business "Street Dreamz", was born as a representation of Mankitya’s art; a mixture of graffiti inspired street style art blended with Aboriginal art taught to him by his mother as a child.

Thomas Readett is a Ngarrindjeri and Arrernte artist also based in the inner south of Adelaide, currently working as the Tarnanthi Education Officer at the Art Gallery of South Australia. Thomas is a multi-disciplinary artist with a practice that explores the themes of mental illness, loss and love through Monochromatic Portraiture.

The group feels strongly about increasing the visibility of Aboriginal Arts and Culture in the public space. They are passionate about the importance of public art, and how it fits into the principles of placemaking. Expressing that ‘Public art transcends power dynamics and privilege; it takes art off the walls of the elite and out of the galleries and into the public realm. It is perfectly placed to tell the story of the community; to challenge ideas and perceptions and to create a sense of ownership and belonging.”

The artists’ have said about the opportunity to create this mural that "This artwork is an enduring visual expression of the legacy of No Fixed Address, whilst also being future driven and informed by the work that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artists are continuing to do today in the fight for parity and equity."