Walking up the rainbow-coloured stairs to the second floor of the Irene artists warehouse in Melbourne feels a bit like stepping back in time, with political and psychedelic stencil art sprayed between higgledy-piggledy MDF board walls separating a maze of studios amid remnants of the building’s industrial history.
The converted former lingerie factory in a cul de sac off Lygon Street in the inner-north suburb of Brunswick has been a not-for-profit artist and activist space since 2001 but is now facing an uncertain future as urban gentrification and council regulations close in.
