SYDNEY.- Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi has officially been postponed until 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions, despite hopes the popular outdoor art exhibition could be staged later this spring.

The exhibition was not granted an exemption by NSW Health and will be postponed and hopefully open for the viewing public in early 2021. Over 100 international and Australian artists were selected to exhibit at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2020, collectively spending around $1.5M - $1.8M to create and freight their sculptures from around the world. All of the artists will remain in the line-up for the delayed exhibition.

In the meantime, exhibition organisers have foreshadowed a yet to be announced large sculpture will be placed on the end of the south Bondi headland in mid-November as a beacon of hope for the future. Additionally, primary and early secondary school students from across greater Sydney and regional NSW, including some of the areas worst affected by the bushfires, will have artists visit their classrooms to host sculpture making workshops as part of a new Sculptors to Your School Outreach Program.




The Bondi exhibition’s Principal Sponsor, Aqualand, and the Patron of the Schools Program, the Caledonia Foundation, are among others who are making possible the free visits of artists to a dozen public schools across Sydney and regional NSW including Shoalhaven and Tumbarumba. Many other schools have booked for this new offering from Sculpture by the Sea with enquires and details of the cost available by email to education@sculpturebythesea.com.

The annual Sydney Sculpture Conference will go ahead as scheduled at the Art Gallery of NSW on Tuesday 17 November. This year’s conference is presented in partnership with the Hakone Open-Air Museum in Japan, one of the world’s most significant sculpture parks, with Chief Curator Takuro Kurokouchi speaking on the internationally renowned collection set against the picturesque Hakone mountains. Other keynote talks include Dr Paul Tacon on the recently announced Arnhem Land Maliwawa Rock Art, and artists exhibiting in ‘Sculpture Encounters – Granite Island’ a permanent sculpture trail on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia. Tickets are available here for attendance in person or via Zoom.

Sculpture by the Sea Founding Director, David Handley AM said, “Like for so many people, it has been a very challenging year for the artists who planned to exhibit on the Bondi coastal walk and for our organisation. With the announcement some months ago that NSW would welcome back major events this spring we hoped it would also be possible to stage the exhibition. While looking ahead to see what might be possible early next year, we are delighted to be taking artists into schools across NSW and to be installing a major sculpture on the end of the south Bondi headland from mid-November as a beacon of hope for Sydney, Australia and the world. ”

Sculpture by the Sea is a series of exhibitions presented along the 2km Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk in Sydney and at Cottesloe Beach in Perth each year.

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi began in 1997 as a one-day exhibition run by volunteers featuring works by 64 artists and attended by 25,000 visitors. Since then, the event has grown to become the largest annual sculpture exhibition in the world featuring numerous esteemed international artists and is enjoyed by approximately 450,000 visitors over three weeks.