AustLit

'It might seem unglamorous now, but, in 1902, when the underground toilets formerly in operation at this site were built, women had just gained the right to vote and sit in Federal Parliament.

'These toilets were the first public women’s toilets built in Melbourne, with four water closets, two wash basins, a store room and an attendant’s room, they cost a penny to use and were an important, if often underrated, signifier of sanitary, technological and social reform. Beside the site sits Chris Reynold’s sculpture, “A History apparatus – Vessel Craft & Beacon”, a somewhat confusing and inauspicious sculpture with limited relevance to the site’s former use.

'Quinn Eades visits this location in his mind’s eye; deep in coronavirus lockdown, this once monumental toilet could be as far away as the moon, as bamboozling as the nearby statue or as portentous as any of our many possible futures. No one can clearly remember what the city used to be like at this strange time. But Quinn’s call to action is as political as the toilets once were: renaming a city, its spaces and histories; making space for women, trans and nonbinary people; respecting and returning to the land and environment; bringing art into unexpected places; and welcoming all bodies in all guises.' (Introduction)