Sculpture by the Sea marks 30 years at Bondi in its final week

SYDNEY, Australia, 27 October 2026 - Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi is in its final week, open on the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk until Monday 2 November, according to the organiser's website. The 2026 edition marks 30 years since the exhibition was first staged at Bondi, and the organiser lists 100 sculptures along the 2 kilometre walk.

The organiser describes the event as the world's largest free-to-the-public outdoor sculpture exhibition, and its visitor pages list entry by voluntary contribution. In its announcement of 16 October, the organiser said more than 450,000 people were expected over the exhibition's 18 days, and that this year's artists come from 14 countries, with 30 of them exhibiting at Bondi for the first time.

The $70,000 Aqualand Sculpture Award went to Harrie Fasher of Portland, New South Wales, for Unveiling the Edges of the Sky, a steel and bronze work the organiser gives as 6 metres tall and 5 metres long. It is Fasher's sixth time exhibiting at Bondi, and she has previously received the major award at Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, according to the announcement.

Other awards named by the organiser include the Helen Lempriere Scholarships, worth a combined $90,000, awarded to Anne Neil of Western Australia, James Tapscott of Victoria and Elyssa Sykes-Smith of New South Wales. David Doyle, a Barkindji and Malyangapa artist based in Broken Hill, is the first recipient of the NRMA Insurance Indigenous Artist Program, which provides $20,000; his work, Kaaku-Kaakulinya: Eternal Sentinels, is installed on Tamarama beach.

In the 16 October announcement, the organiser's Founding CEO and Artistic Director, David Handley, said: “Thank you to the people of Sydney for making Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi what it is. Without the public's enthusiasm the artists would not make such ambitious sculptures, and it is the public response that has inspired the philanthropic donors, corporate sponsors, donors and NSW government to get behind the exhibition.”

NRMA Insurance has returned as a major partner for a second year, according to an organiser announcement dated 23 October.

Visitor information, including access, transport and a mobile exhibition guide, is published at sculpturebythesea.com/bondi. The organiser's next exhibition, Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, is listed for 5 to 22 March 2027, with a note to check with its office before making travel plans.