Australia’s most famous beach Bondi in eastern Sydney is home to the annual Sculpture by the Sea, the largest annual outdoor sculpture exhibition in the world.
The two-kilometre installation, which stretches along the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk, started on Thursday (October 24) and runs until November 10.
This year, it is themed around the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution of Czechoslovakia, which ended the communist regime there, and includes a piece by Czech artist David Cerny, who painted the “Monument to Soviet Tank Crews” in Prague in 1991 and was arrested.
The 2019 exhibit features more than 100 sculptures with artists from dozens of countries. The event is free to the public.
New Zealand artist Morgan Jones, 85, has won this year’s top prize worth US$48,000 with his sculpture, “The Sun Also Rises”, made of corten steel with the Biblical title coming from the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes.
Since 1997, the exhibition has featured thousands of sculptures by both Australian and overseas artists.
Bondi is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Australia with almost 3 million visitors making their way to the beach each year.
This year could also be the last exhibition on the iconic beach after the organisers and the local Waverley Council could not reach agreement over a new path to improve disabled access.
“Going forward, we’ll make a decision around February or March as to what we’re doing,” Sculpture by the Sea director David Handley said. – dpa
