Pasted and Wasted: Melbourne Music Poster Expo comes to District X at the District Docklands from November 26, 2021 until January 31, 2022.
The start of the month staple for any music lover pre-2010, was going to the newsagents and picking up a fresh copy of your favourite music magazine, going home and plastering your bedroom walls with the centrefold band music posters.
Posters have not only long held an important place in the teen bedroom, they also contribute to beautifying cities and painting the streets with vibrant graphics to promote tours, albums and festivals.
What you need to know
- Pasted and Wasted: Melbourne Music Poster Expo celebrates Nick Vukovic’s incredible music poster collection
- It contains thousands of historic music moments, with 800 posters to see
- The exhibition will run from Friday November 26 until December 31, 2021 at District X at the District Docklands
Stay up to date with what’s happening in Melbourne here.
Nick Vukovic recognised this artform under a bridge in South Melbourne. The eager admirer tracked down the address of John D’Aquino, a printing shop owner from North Melbourne, which sparked a 40 year venture in the world of poster collection.
Kicking off the collectable conquer with The Angels, Midnight Oil, Rose Tattoo, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and AC/DC, Vukovic’s collection expanded rapidly and he is now inviting music lovers across all generations into his museum of touring band posters.
Pasted and Wasted: Melbourne Music Poster Expo will be exhibiting at District X at the District Docklands later this month with thousands of historic music moments to see.
“I have attended practically no shows at all – I simply love the art form! All posters are from my collection,” Vukovic explains.
“Prior to final decision and curation [of Pasted and Wasted], we brought down 4,000 posters to choose from [of which we’ve selected 800] but there are more at home. I acquired them from collectors, eBay, auction sites, donations from printers (Melbourne and Sydney printers have donated ‘tonnes’, twice I brought home a car full of posters from Sydney – a station wagon that became so heavy it hit the railway lines whenever I crossed train tracks) and promoters, and individuals who wanted to be mentioned in the book I was involved in with Murray Walding called ‘Plastered’.”
The Melbourne music scene is unique in its diversity, plethora of talent and evolution and Pasted and Wasted reflects those qualities entirely, as well as offering patrons a path down memory lane.
“We have about 1,000 items on display, including t-shirts, laminates, handbills, photographs, as well as the posters. The expo will be covering many genres, artists, decades and themes,” he says.
“No matter what decade or genre you love, we have something for everyone. From the Flower Power of the 60s to the Pub Rock of the 70s. From Punk and Indie to Grunge and Heavy Metal. We also reflect the digitisation of music of the 2000s and the rise of Aussie Hip Hop. For the young and old, we want to bring back memories of those times when they went to this or that show and bought a ticket, maybe a t-shirt, but more importantly we want to get them excited about experiencing live music and events again.”
The Pasted and Wasted exhibition, as supported by City of Melbourne, comes at a time when live music has been struggling, and in Melbourne, practically non-existent over 2020 and 2021. For Vukovic, the intention is to help reignite the physical nature of the live music scene.
“We want to encourage people back into the city after many months of COVID-19 restrictions. We are trying to reboot the interest in music, and in this case in the graphic art as well as the live music,” he says.
Fittingly, the launch for Pasted and Wasted, kicking off Friday 26 to Sunday 28 November 2021, further helps reignite the music fire and Melbourne small business reactivation, boasting live music, a pop-up fair and music related information sessions.
“The line-up for the music and information sessions is still being finalised. We hope to announce that very soon. We are working closely with The District Docklands to pull this together. The pop-up fair is for anything music-related – vinyl records, CDs, merchandise, memorabilia, photography, gig promotion, books, etc.
‘There will be no cost to the stallholders. We want to help small businesses who have suffered during COVID restrictions to access music lovers visiting the expo.”
For tickets and information visit www.pastedandwasted.com.au
