The Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Sydney and Perth is Australia's largest annual outdoor sculpture exhibition. This exhibition was initiated in 1997, at Bondi Beach and it featured sculptures by both Australian and overseas artists. In 2005, a companion event was established at Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia featuring over 70 artists. [1] In 2009 it was announced that Aarhus in Denmark would host the first Sculpture by the Sea exhibition outside of Australia. [2]
This exhibition is held annually during spring in Australia at Bondi Beach ( 33°53′26.28″S151°16′36.10″E / 33.8906333°S 151.2766944°E ) from late October to early November for three weeks, and Cottesloe Beach ( 31°59′42″S115°45′04″E / 31.99505°S 115.75124°E ) from early to mid March for three weeks. Over 100 local, interstate and international artists participate every year. [1] Sculpture by the Sea is incredibly popular and draws considerable crowds. In 2014 Waverley Council estimated that between 450,000 and 500,000 people would visit the sculptures during their exhibition in Sydney. [3]
In 1995, David Handley, founder of Sculpture by the Sea, was living in Prague. He visited an outdoor sculpture park in Klatovy, northern Bohemia. He was inspired to do something similar in Australia. On his return to Sydney in 1996, His friends suggested the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk as a suitable location. At first, he planned on having paintings as well as sculptures, naming this exhibition "Art by the Sea" but dropped the idea as the weather can be unpredictable on the coast. This is how Sculpture by the Sea came into being. [4]
The first exhibition was put together in a span of 10 weeks and on a shoestring budget. It was held over one day in 1997 at Bondi and garnered a lot of interest from the media and 20,000 spectators. [5] [4] They received a total of 189 entries from 138 artists and featured 64 of them. [6] The judges included David Cook (Christie's), John MacDonald ( Sydney Morning Herald ), Terence Measham (Powerhouse Museum), Dr Gene Sherman (Sherman Galleries) and Sculptor Ron Robertson-Swann [7]
The exhibition has only suffered from the weather on the coast. In 1998, rough conditions on the coastline, lead to six sculptures being damaged. Ann Thompson's sculpture worth $40,000 was damaged due to huge waves. In 1999, Duncan Stemler's Give a little whistle was wrecked due to rough weather conditions. [8] The exhibition also suffered from some vandalism, Carol Murphy's $2000 still life The Watcher was stolen only for one part of it to be returned. in 1999, part of Tom Bass's Gender Pieces was pushed into the sea by vandals. [9]
The works are spread right across the cliff from Bronte Beach to Bondi Beach via Tamarama Beach. Every year the coastal walk is transformed into a seaside art gallery. [10] Over 100 sculptures are exhibited in the background of sea and the coastal landscape along the two kilometre coastal walk. Sculpture by the Sea began in 1996 with an exhibition held over one day at Bondi and the annual event is now the world's largest free outdoor sculpture exhibition. [10]
For the first eight years, the main prize was provided by Sydney Water, and most of the award-winning works were gifted to Campbelltown Arts Centre. In 2006 and 2007, National Australia Bank sponsored the main prize and the works made their way to Orange Regional Gallery. From 2009 to 2012, the Balnaves Foundation sponsored the main prize to the winning sculptor in the exhibition, and the works gifted to the Royal Botanic Garden. From 2013 to 2015, it was Macquarie Group and the works gifted to the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust for placement at Georges Heights. [11]
There are many other scholarship and prizes that come out of this exhibition, including the Helen Lempriere Scholarship, the Clitheroe Foundation Emerging Sculptor Mentorship Program and Allens People's Choice Award. [11] There is also an encouragement award for younger artists.[ citation needed ]
In 2005, the first Sculpture by the Sea event was held at Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia, overlooking the Indian Ocean. The exhibition showcased sculptures by Western Australia's leading and emerging sculptors, alongside works by invited interstate and international sculptors. This free annual public exhibition attracts over 200,000 visitors [18] of all ages.
In June 2009 Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark initiated a biannual Sculpture by the Sea event in the city of Aarhus (Denmark), inspired by the exhibitions in Australia, Mary's country of birth. It is the only SBTS event outside Australia. 'Sculpture by the Sea, Aarhus - Denmark' is financially and legally independent of 'Sculpture by the Sea Incorporated' and is being produced by the city of Aarhus in collaboration with ARoS Aarhus Artmuseum. The first two exhibitions attracted approximately half a million visitors. [19] Sculpture by the Sea, Aarhus terminated with the last event in 2015. [20]
Bondi Beach is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Beach is located 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Eastern Suburbs. It has a population of 11,656 residents. Its postcode is 2026. Bondi, North Bondi and Bondi Junction are neighbouring suburbs. Bondi Beach is one of the most visited tourist sites in Australia sparking two hit TV series Bondi Rescue and Bondi Vet.
Bronte is a beachside Eastern Suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bronte Beach is located 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the Waverley Council local government area of the Eastern Suburbs.
A sculpture trail - also known as "a culture walk" or "art trail" - is a walkway through open-air galleries of outdoor sculptures along a defined route with sequenced viewings encountered from planned preview and principal sight lines.
Tamarama is a beachside suburb, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tamarama is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council.
Bondi is a suburb of eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, seven kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council.
Andrew Rogers is a contemporary sculptor born in Australia whose works may be found in many plazas and buildings around the world. Rogers is the creator of the world's largest contemporary land art undertaking. Titled "Rhythms of Life," the project commenced in 1998 and at present comprises 51 massive stone structures across 16 countries on seven continents and has involved over 7,500 people.
Bondi Rescue is an Australian factual television program which is broadcast on Network 10. The program follows the daily lives and routines of the Waverley Council professional lifeguards who patrol Bondi Beach.
Wonderland City was an amusement park located at Tamarama, on Wonderland Avenue near the point at which it joins Fletcher Street, in Sydney, Australia. It opened on Saturday, 1 December 1906 and closed in 1911. At the time it was the largest open air amusement park in the southern hemisphere.
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The Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club is Australia's oldest Surf Life Saving Club, founded in 1907. The club was officially established on 21 February 1907 at the Royal Hotel in Bondi Beach, Sydney, New South Wales. The clubs aim is to ensure "No Lives Lost" at Bondi Beach and is a volunteer organisation that patrols Bondi Beach from October to April every year.
Marselisborg Forests, or simply Marselisborg Forest, is a 550 hectares forest to the south of Aarhus City in the Kingdom of Denmark. Many present day sources now includes the forest of Fløjstrup, as part of the Marselisborg Forests, upping the total area with another 200 hectares. Marselisborg Forests runs along the coastline of the Aarhus Bay in a hilly terrain with steep slopes and deep gullies, especially at the shoreline. There are many traces of prehistoric activities here and the landscape have been covered by woodlands for thousands of years.
Chris Bailey is a Māori sculptor and carver. Bailey studied Māori language and Māori material culture at the University of Auckland under Dante Bonica. He lives and works on Waiheke Island.
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Mackenzies Bay is a small inlet in the coast between Bondi Beach and Tamarama Beach in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. It forms part of the shoreline boundary of the suburb of Tamarama. Most of the time, it is a rocky inlet but, at times, depending on prevailing conditions, a sandy beach—known informally as Mackenzies Bay Beach or Mackenzies—comes into existence. Mackenzies Bay is also a well-known surf break.
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