Hosier Lane

This guide to Hosier Lane in Melbourne turns on a stencilled rat sprayed here in 2003 by the mysterious British artist Banksy, tolerated by the city for years as a genuine exception in an otherwise anything-goes laneway. It follows a 2010 complaint about the lane's real vermin problem, the clean-up crew sent in with instructions to strip unapproved graffiti, and what nobody thought to tell them before they got to work. Look at the layered walls around you, stacked three stories high with color that shifts week to week.