You’re driving through the city coming down from the north, en route to South Brisbane via the story bridge. A mix of 70’s brick buildings and the newer breed of globally indistinct creations of glass and steel surround you. Occasionally you might catch sight of an older high set ‘Queenslander’ style house holding out among the newer buildings. This is not a completely unique experience. Australia has only been a country since 1901 and if you visit any capital cities on the eastern seaboard where most of the population clusters you will see a similar mix in different proportions. But as you pass through Barry Parade a building stands out like an exclamation point amongst its orange peers.. 4ZZZ headquarters (2010) 1 You’ve just passed the 4ZZZ radio station building, a brief explosion of colour. 4ZZZ - originally launched as 4ZZ. Was born out of an era of intense political corruption, student activism and police violence that inspired community activism. (See end for reading suggestions) The exact catalyst for the launch of 4ZZZ has been pinpointed as the 1971 South African rugby union tour of Australia by the Springboks. The Springboks represented apartheid South Africa and its system of institutionalised racial segregation. Protests disrupted the earlier Australian matches in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. Premier of Queensland at the time Joh Bjelke-Petersen declared a state of emergency and handed police extraordinary powers to crush dissent. Forever after wearing the title of banana dictator for his actions from there on it. 4ZZZ initially operated out of the University of Queensland student building until they suffered a politically motivated eviction. After this they moved to a premises in Toowong and then in 1994 purchased the old Communist Party of Australia. The same building we passed earlier. Readers may be interested to note that in it’s prior life the building was bombed with a device that allegedly consisted of 16 sticks of gelignite. Shortly afterwards there was an incident where shots fired through the front window of ‘The People's Bookshop’ downstairs. Communist Party Australia headquarters (Rear entrance) after the bombing (1972) 2 Between 1994 and August 2010 the front of the building remained unpainted in its classic and unremarkable brick form, gazing out onto Barry Parade as the years passed. The car park at the rear became established as a venue for small concerts and small works of vibrant graffiti and sanctioned art appeared on the northern car park wall. Well, until it was coated grey due to complaints of the neighbouring property owner in 2014. (Source - 4ZZZ Q&A) Below, the car park murals that were located in research are listed with information that is known about them. This can always be updated, if you know something I don’t - please do not hesitate to let me know so this document can be updated to be as factual as possible. Editor's note: Unfortunately, there is no currently known information about when exactly the building was initially built or later purchased by the Communist Party of Australia. See last page for further historical research. 4ZZZ Building pre-mural by Beastman (photo circa 201?) 3 Note remaining ‘The people's bookshop’ text on the door frame. First located mural by unknown artist (Meka?) - rear car park (2008) 4 Editor's note: At present it is unknown who painted this mural. This document will be updated if further information comes to light. Unknown artist (Meka?) - rear car park (2008) 5 Magnus (On instagram as @msg_621) RIP - rear car park (2011) 6 Note the 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air 4-Door Sedan (in cream) in front of mural. Treas with Ironlak (2013) 7 The process of painting the front of the building by the artist Beastman (On Instagram as @Bradeastman) was documented on video by Submarine (As credited) and can be viewed on Vimeo by searching “Beastman vs 4ZZZ’ Screenshots from Beastman vs 4ZZZ (2010) 8 While it is at this point uncertain exactly how 264 Barry Parade came to be owned by the Communist Party of Australia there is some data on its ownership prior to that. A 1951 fire plan created by Mahlstedt’s - a company of fire engineers and surveyors established in 1884. Lists the property as being owned by Reno Plastics, which corresponds with a government contract list from 1973. Brisbane Fire Plans - City/Valley Plan 31 (1951) 9 Australian Government Gazette (1973) 10 It also tells us the property has a galvanised iron roof, a concrete ground floor and that the other floors were wood. Does this help anything? No. But now you know, and knowing is half the battle. The car park also has a small besser brick wall facing St Pauls Terrace which as far as I can tell has only been painted twice. Both works are shown below. Hams DIE - (2007) 11 Beastman and unknown (2010) 12 Suggested reading Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden - Andrew Stafford (2004) Radical Brisbane - Carole Ferrier (2004) Three Crooked Kings - Matthew Condon (2013) Bjelke Blues: Stories of Repression and Resistance in Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s Queensland 1968–1987 (2019) Sources Images 1 John Robert McPherson - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:4ZZZ_Building_mural_Barry_Pde_Fortitude_Valley_ P1050134.jpg 2 Communist Party of Australia Collection - https://workersbushtelegraph.com.au/2008/07/18/radical-books-in-brisbane/ 3 Royskeane - https://www.flickr.com/photos/royskeane/826430635/ 4 Unknown source 5 Openhammer - https://www.flickr.com/photos/11465212@N02/2419005969/ 6 Cal Crilly - https://www.flickr.com/photos/calcrilly/7085553379/ 7 Awstoe - https://www.flickr.com/photos/awstoe/9598498576/ 9 Beastman - https://vimeo.com/15675006 9 Mahlstedt’s Brisbane Fire Plans, Brisbane Fire Plans City/Valley, Plan 31 - https://library-brisbane.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/BrisbaneImages/?rm=MAHLSTED T%E2%80%99S+BR0%7C%7C%7C1%7C%7C%7C1%7C%7C%7Ctrue&dt=list 10 Australian Government Gazette Thursday 18 October 1973, Issue 149, Page 33 - https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240845417/26079619 11 Courtesy of @thelostyears (200?) 12 Retrieved from Google Street View (2020)