Melodie of Life - Cultural Mural Project (2023)
Melodie of Life is a site-specific cultural mural project created in 2023 as part of a live public art performance in Hobart, Tasmania.
The mural was painted on the iconic Piano of Tasmania during the community event With Ukraine in Our Hearts, combining visual art, music, and shared public experience.
Developed as a public art mural, the project responds to place, time, and audience, allowing the artwork to emerge through collaboration and live interaction.
Project Overview:
Project type: Cultural mural project / public art mural
Year: 2023
Location: Hobart, Tasmania
Setting: Parliament Lawns, public outdoor space
Surface: Piano of Tasmania
Format: Hand-painted, site-specific mural
Support: Event granted via Hobart City Council
Collaboration: With Australian pianist Kelvin Smith
Concept & Visual Storytelling
The composition of Melodie of Life is built around three interconnected elements representing the Past, Present, and Future. These moments of time are brought together through the central image of lark birds, integrated into a flowing ornamental structure.
In Ukrainian cultural symbolism, the song of the lark represents unity between Heaven and Earth — a connection between the spiritual and the everyday. Through visual storytelling and symbolic imagery, the mural reflects on continuity, resilience, and shared human experience.
Rather than presenting a fixed narrative, the mural allows meaning to unfold gradually as viewers encounter it in movement, sound, and public space.
Cultural & Artistic Context
This cultural public art project draws on Ukrainian visual traditions, including Samchykivka painting, interpreted through a contemporary mural practice. Traditional principles such as rhythm, balance, and repetition are adapted carefully, not as decoration, but as a structural language supporting meaning and flow.
The mural was dedicated to the Ukrainian people and created within a moment of public solidarity, allowing cultural symbolism to exist openly within a shared civic environment.
Collaboration
Melodie of Life was created as a hand-painted mural during a live performance With Ukraine in Our Hearts, developing in direct dialogue with music, audience, and place. The collaboration with Tasmanian pianist Kelvin Smith formed an interdisciplinary exchange between sound and image, reinforcing the mural’s rhythm and temporal structure.
Working live required responsiveness to scale, surface, and changing conditions, ensuring the final artwork remained integrated with both the piano and the public setting.
Public Art Context
Completed on 4 November 2023 at Parliament Lawns, the mural became part of a broader cultural moment rather than a static object. The Piano of Tasmania — an instrument that has travelled to significant locations across the state — provided a mobile and symbolic surface for the artwork.
Presented in a public setting, the mural prioritised accessibility, shared experience, and community engagement, reflecting the role of public art as a space for collective reflection.
Project: With Ukraine in our hearts Event granted by Hobart City Council
Anna painting art mural while iconic pianist Kelvin Smith playing on the Piano of Tasmania Photocredit: Jase Batey
Hand-painted cultural mural in progress on the Piano of Tasmania
Hand-painted cultural mural on the Piano of Tasmania placed on a Tasmanian beach, featuring symbolic bird motifs
If you’re interested in commissioning a mural or discussing a cultural or public art project, you’re welcome to get in touch.
Interesting Facts about mural
Mural Melodie of Life painted on the iconic A Piano of Tasmania was created at the life performance With Ukraine in Our Hearts. This collaboration with Kelvin Smith, Tasmanian pianist highlights art message to pay attention to the situation in the Ukraine.
Mural Melodie of Life dedicated to the all Ukrainian people.
Location: Private collection, Hobart, Tasmania
Event granted via Hobart City Council
About the Artist
Anna Mykhalchuk is a Ukrainian-Australian artist and muralist based in Australia. Her practice focuses on working with Samchykivka painting as a living cultural tradition, translated into contemporary mural, public art, and educational contexts.