Sculpture by the Sea 2013

"Diminish and Ascend"

The "Sculpture by the Sea" exhibition was held 24 October - 10 November 2013 along the 2klm Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk in Sydney, Australia. I was fortunate to visit this exhibition this Saturday, the second last day of the exhibition. Even though it was late in the afternoon I was not the only person enjoying this outdoor sculpture exhibition - hundreds of other people were also enjoying this annual sculpture walk. The exhibition is so large that it has been estimated that NSW receives over $59 million each year from visitors who come to Sydney to see Sculpture by the Sea. It is the world's largest free to the public sculpture exhibition.

The 113 sculptors came from all over Australia and from 12 other countries including South Korea, Denmark, New Zealand, U.S.A, England, Germany, Japan, India, Portugal and China.

Most of the sculptures were outside along the coast walkway, or on the clifftop park, though some were displayed indoors. They varied in size from small to huge. I could easily make out what some of the sculptures were, though with some others I scratched my head trying to imagine what they represented.

"Fallout"

Each year a winner is selected form all the sculptures on display. This year the $60,000 Macquarie Group Sculpture Prize was awarded to Stephen King (NSW) for his work "Fallout". This is the most generous sculpture prize in New South Wales.


From 1997 – 2004 Sydney Water sponsored the main prize with most of the winning sculptures given to the Campbelltown Arts Centre. In 2006 and 2007 NAB sponsored the main prize with the winning sculptures given to the Orange Regional Gallery.From 2009 – 2012 the Balnaves Foundation sponsored the prize, with the sculptures given to the Royal Botanic Garden.

"Horizon"

Lucy Humphrey's Sculpture "Horizon" won the $5000 People's Choice and $3000 Kids' Choice awards.

"A Shared Weight"

Winner of this years Bondi 2013 staff choice Prize was Elyssa Sykes Smith's for her innovative & extraordinary sculpture "A Shared Weight".