In 2018, Pwerle Gallery brought the spirit of Utopia to Melbourne’s streets with a striking collaboration at Mercedes-Me, a groundbreaking concept space where café culture intersects with design, innovation and community. Set within the acclaimed Mercedes-Me Melbourne location designed by Jackson Clements Burrows as a fluid, café-by-day, event-space-by-night hub—the exhibition transformed the store into a moving gallery at Collins and King Street, in the heart of Melbourne’s cultural renaissance.

Titled “My Grandmother’s Country,” the exhibition showcased the rich heritage of the Pwerle family across four generations of women artists. Their Awelye-inspired artworks, rendered in bold, flowing motifs, wrapped the interiors of Mercedes-Me around a story of Country, artistry and ancestral continuity—blurring the boundaries between retail, art gallery and cultural experience. Over one evening, the space pulsed with live painting, music, artist-led encounters, canapés, and café culture—all under the architectural frame of industrial steel, limestone, and natural timber that echoes Mercedes-Me’s design ethos of balance and innovation.

One of the most memorable highlights of the evening came when artists Freddy Purla and Charmaine Pwerle—brother and sister, painted directly onto the bonnet of a Mercedes car live during the event. Their performance was not only a powerful act of storytelling but also a fusion of culture and innovation, creating an artwork that later remained on display in the Mercedes-Me café for many years, admired by countless visitors.

This pop-up wasn’t just an exhibition—it was a cultural handshake between Pwerle Gallery and Melbourne’s vibrant creative landscape. It marked a significant moment of visibility for Aboriginal art outside traditional galleries, supported by Vogue Australia, which highlighted the collaboration as a pioneering blend of luxury brand and Indigenous cultural storytelling. As Time Out put it, it wasn’t just a showroom—it was a cultural meeting point where “Australia’s most beloved Indigenous owned art gallery flew into Melbourne” to bring stories that are deeply family and deeply formidable.

Equally important to Jade was the opportunity to use this collaboration as a platform to amplify Aboriginal voices in a way that felt authentic and organic. She saw it as a responsibility to be a role model not only for her own people but also for women stepping into spaces often dominated by men. The project became a reflection of her ability to walk between two worlds — culture and corporate — and to balance them with integrity.

By merging these worlds on such a prominent stage, Jade showed how powerful storytelling can reshape perceptions and celebrate identity in a positive and empowering way.