Love or hate graffiti like Pam the Bird, Melbourne’s reputation wasn’t built on permission slips

July 13, 2026 — 5:00am

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Like or loathe it, Pam the Bird has become a pop-cultural figure in Melbourne. Not because everyone loves the work or agrees with the methods. But because the image is funny, familiar, and rebellious, and keeps appearing in places where it seems almost impossible to reach. Pam is also a symbol of a bigger uncomfortable conversation.

Pam looks more like something from a children’s book than the calling card of one of Melbourne’s most notorious vandals. People who know nothing about graffiti can understand the joke, recognise the image, and participate by photographing it and wondering where it will appear next.

That does not mean the public is endorsing everything allegedly done in Pam’s name. The man police allege is behind the bird, Jack Gibson-Burrell, has pleaded not guilty to more than 200 offences, most related to alleged graffiti damage. He faces a further 13 charges arising from the alleged incident on Bolte Bridge that caused traffic chaos last Tuesday, including burglary, criminal damage, and conduct endangering life. These are serious allegations.

But the reaction to Pam is not simply about graffiti, although that is often how it is framed. It is about who gets punished, who gets celebrated, who gets erased, and who gets paid once subculture becomes useful.

I have spent more than 15 years working within this tension. Through Juddy Roller, the street art and placemaking agency I founded in 2011, I have helped deliver hundreds of large-scale public artworks, including the famous silo art trail across regional Victoria. I have seen street-based artists become internationally recognised professionals, and watched the visual language of graffiti........

© The Age