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The Bondi Beach Sea Wall is open to artists of all calibres. Artists seeking permission to paint a mural must submit an application online.

To support the diverse and dynamic character of Bondi, the artworks on the Bondi Beach Sea Wall are constantly changing. Each panel on the Sea Wall is allocated for a six month time period.

Applications to create a work on the Sea Wall for summer 2020 will be accepted until Friday 6 September.

Applications must be received before Friday 6 September for painting across summer 2020.

For further information, please contact Waverley Council’s Visual Arts Team at visualarts@waverley.nsw.gov.au or by phone on 02 9083 8746.

Image by Days One DCA and Kade.

Everyone was shocked when ELK (artist Luke Cornish) stencilled his Welcome to Bondi panel in late July 2019.

The panel depicts 24 Border Force ‘soldiers’ in paramilitary/riot gear holding semiautomatic weapons – with WELCOME TO BONDI lettered in a Soviet-style font across the top.

This represents the 24 Asylum Seekers who have committed suicide in Australian onshore/offshore detention camps since 2010.

Now the Graffiti wall at Bondi Beach has always been used for social issues (refugees, marine conservation etc) and Luke has a history of painting confronting pieces – his 2016 – Capitalist Pig piece with Kaff-eine features a Capitalist Pig and his canine wife who wears a scarf made of Syrian refugees – but this one REALLY upset people. Local politicians ranted against the painting on Facebook, local people (by and large) ranted FOR the painting. It made media across the country. Petitions were launched for- and against- the mural. It became a real political hot-potato.

And so on Tuesday night (6th August) Waverley Council voted whether to keep the mural or not. They voted 5-4 in favour of the mural (broadly split on political lines) and local art-lovers celebrated.

Then late that night after the meeting someone defaced the mural with a roller. Police haven’t yet caught the culprits – but it echoes the behaviours of other thugs in February this year when the wall was defaced with swastikas in an attempt to intimidate Bondi’s Jewish community.

Free speech isn’t for everyone it seems.

So where do we go now? We are hoping that Luke paints right back over it!

So it looks like the winners (and yet-to-be-winners) of this season’s applications to paint the Bondi Beach Graffiti Wall have now been notified – with Ayla the Caveman stating that she was #bitterasfuck that she wasn’t selected.

One artist (Emma Carey) has started work this week – we will see another ten panels complete before Christmas and the remainder of the fifty five panels will be completed before the end of February.  Check out this intricate bit of work from Em’s Facebook page – I wonder if her wall work will be as detailed as this.

(update – Emma’s page is now live on Bondigraffiti.com HERE)

The council received over 140 applications to paint the wall this year – which once they rejected commercial or inappropriate applications, they short-listed, giving priority to new artists and whittled down to the chosen few.

If you didn’t succeed this time then there will be plenty of opportunity to apply again for the June 2017 intake, me – I just can’t WAIT for some new paint on the wall.

JH

I had walked past this piece on the wall – and I had read about the Bali Bombings – and spoken to Droogie about why he painted the mural, but nothing made it really hit home until I was walking along the Bondi Beach Graffiti Wall one weekend and I saw Chloe’s Dad lay some frangipani flowers at the base of the Girl with the Frangipani in her hair artwork in her memory.

I didn’t even go up and say hello – I felt like I was intruding.

Rest in peace child.