What is MPavilion? Functional Art in Melbourne

MPavilion 2023 is a concrete community center (Photo by TravellingFool.com)

Months in advance a whole section of the botanical garden lawn gets walled off with huge plywood boards and signs that say MPavilion is coming soon. I watched it for weeks as I walked along the Yarra River enjoying the early summer. Then when I came back to Melbourne it was opened! MPavilion is at the edge of the botanical gardens and park, south of the river near the highway. It's something that happens every year in the same spot. The Naomi Milgrom Foundation finds some famous architect to design it and then uses it as a spot to run programs, workshops, and other community engagement activities. This is the 10th year that they've done it and I don't recall paying it much mind in my previous summers in Melbourne. Instagram has a funny habit of promoting a lot of government funded or sanctioned events that turn out to be not nearly as pretty, fun, or glamorous as they appear in photographs. Whoever does the photographs for What's On Melb (@whatsonmelb) is truly an artist when it comes to digital photography.

Plenty of bike parking at MPavilion (Photo by TravellingFool.com)

I knew exactly where the Pavilion would be since I had walked past it a few times when it was being built and later when it was open, but they did a great job with putting signage in a place where it can be see and making the path into the exhibit as well as the bike parking easy to find without being an eyesore in the beautiful park that surrounds it. That didn't stop someone from dragging their bike into the exhibit and leaving it leaning against the wall. From the outside it wasn't much to look at. Tall concrete walls and a large sphere covered in newspapers, I believe it is meant to look like paper mache but there was no signage to confirm what it was from what I could tell.

I walked into the concrete box and was shocked to find so many people in there! The area was so quiet I thought it was empty but there were plenty of couples, families, and small groups sitting on low wooden stools. Just beyond them was a pool of water that someone was walking through with a net and the far wall had a slit in it to allow you to look at the paper mache sphere sculpture. A long line had formed with people waiting to get the permanent art installation in the Pavilion, Escala De Cinzas (Greyscale) by Brazilian artist Joao Loureiro.

Hot weather and ice cream art don't mix (photo by TravellingFool.com)

Escala De Cinzas (Greyscale) is grey gelato. Grey gelato made by João Loureiro in collaboration with Piccolina Gelateria which is my favorite gelato chain in Melbourne. I suppose it was more popular today due to the hot weather and the very cute Instagram photo that MPavilion posted to their feed. I watched as two young women were standing in the 2 feet of sun that leaked beyond the umbrella roof of the Pavilion and scooping gelato as best as they could. I looked took a few steps closer to get a look at the six shades of grey "from light grey to almost black with no flavours labelled" and instead of finding a mind bending array of shades of grey of mystery ice cream instead I saw 8 tubs of the same light grey flavor. Not only were all the colors identical but the reason the young women were working so hard to scoop the gelato was because it was melted! It was barely sticking together in the top 3 inches of every tub they had because the sun was so hot and the freezer door was open the whole time. If they were better organized they'd have one of the pair collecting the money and instructing people to go take a seat and wait for their order so that they can keep the freezer closed as much as possible.

Community library in MPavilion (photo by TravellingFool.com)

I turned to admire the length of the line for $7 cones of gelato soup when I noticed the library. The library consisted of a metal book cart from Ikea, complete with about a dozen books on it. There was a sign printed on neon orange paper within a plastic placard labeling the book cart as the community library. I didn't get a very good look at the books on the cart since a family was sitting right on top of it.

Plenty of seating in the shade! (photo by TravellingFool.com)

For a moment I thought of taking a seat myself but when I looked more closely there were no solo people. Everyone was in a group or pair and having conversations. It felt incredibly unwelcoming but I did make a note that it seemed like a good spot to take a break from walking around the park or museum. The cafe was actually a food truck posted outside the pavilion and on the opposite end from the single entry/exit. Come to think of it it does make sense why I felt like the pavilion was a bit of a trap, with only one exit and entry and no windows it has to be failing some kind of safety standard. 

Overall I would rate this experience a 2/10. If you're into architecture and modern art, or need somewhere to hang out in the shade if you're in the area, then this experience may be for you. I would not go out of my way however to see it again.