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    A masked Spiderman and friends bring joy to Melbourne’s locked-down suburb

    "Thank you to the fella jogging St Kilda neighbourhoods in full SpiderMan suit. You have brightened my young bloke’s day beyond measure on three occasions now."
    by Kevin Rennie Aug 17, 2020 3 minutes
    Spiderman jogging in East St Kilda

    Spiderman jogging in East St Kilda, a district of Melbourne. Photo courtesy of Asher Wolf, used with permission

    With Melbourne in a winter COVID-19 lockdown for six weeks, any ray of sunshine is especially welcome. It seems that Spiderman has been bringing just that for some time during the coronavirus pandemic.

    St Kilda is an iconic bayside inner suburb, usually bubbling with backpackers and other visitors from around the globe. It has played a big part in your author’s life, not the least because of its Australian Football League club that began there.

    It’s an unlikely place to find our superhero as there are few very tall buildings. Perhaps that’s why Spiderman has taken to jogging. Local Jack Latimore’s son has been lucky enough to spot him more than once:

    Another resident, activist Asher Wolf, is well known on social media. The photo at the top of this post is from one of her tweets in June 2020. It was taken in Carlisle Street, Balaclava, which is part of East St Kilda. She replied to Jack’s tweet and also explained that another encounter was before the current 8 p.m. curfew:

    Spiderman was wearing a mask before they became compulsory for most outdoor activities. He couldn’t have known that jogging and cycling would be the two mask-free activities allowed during the maximum one hour’s exercise within five kilometres of your home each day.

    Photographer Leigh Henningham posted this take with iconic St Kilda pier in the background a week earlier:

    Jack Begbie was surprised by his obvious caution:

    Meanwhile, Museums Victoria’s Bridget Hanna shared this image of St Kilda’s much loved Luna Park:

    This mockup had been posted by @CapturingMelbourne a week earlier on Instagram:

    Former City of Port Phillip councillor Serge Thomann also captured St Kilda beach and the pier at their best:

    The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) has joined those trying to lift people's spirits:

    According to their website:

    We are honoured to present Kent Morris’ Never alone, which reflects his interest in countering the lack of Indigenous cultural representation in the built environment.”

    The work’s location, on a busy St Kilda intersection, is positioned halfway between the Ngargee Tree or Corroboree Tree, near St Kilda Junction and Cleve Gardens – two significant gathering places for First Nations people.

    Finally, one for the kids from Kids Fun Toys YouTube channel:

    A special thank you to Friends of St Kilda (yoūruk) Facebook group for lots of ideas and images.

    Originally published in Global Voices.

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