Is Sydney's Sculpture by the Sea the world's most scenic art event? If you're lucky, you'll see whales too
Fifteen works photographed at Marks Park on opening Saturday, the Sweethearts installation, free weekend artist talks and when to look for humpbacks from the cliffs.
Art on the cliffs, in whale season
Sculpture by the Sea is back on the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk from Friday 16 October to Monday 2 November 2026. It is the show's 30th year. About 100 sculptures by artists from Australia and overseas line the 2km clifftop path, and the organisers call it the world's largest free-to-the-public sculpture exhibition.
Plenty of cities stage big outdoor art shows. Very few set them on sandstone cliffs above the Pacific in the middle of the whale migration. We have been seeing humpbacks from the walk most mornings this week, so you can judge the "most scenic" question for yourself.
This year's $70,000 Aqualand Sculpture Award went to Harrie Fasher for Unveiling the Edges of the Sky (No. 27 below). Entry is free. The organisers suggest a $5 contribution per person or $10 per family, which goes to the artists and the cost of staging the show.
Current and upcoming outings
Selected for this guide, with dates and visitor details from the linked organisers. The suggestions are ours. Completed events drop out of this list; check each organiser for opening days and current availability.
Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi
- When
- 16 Oct – 2 Nov
- Where
- Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk
- Entry
- Free
Celebrating 30 years at Bondi: about 100 sculptures on the 2km coastal walk, with Sculpture Inside at Marks Park open daily 10am to 6pm.
Before you go: Weekends are far busier. A weekday, or a 7am start, gives you the walk and the whale view with fewer people.
Sweethearts: the work you shouldn't walk past
Spread across the grass at Marks Park are 60 pastel concrete hearts. From a distance they look like the lolly hearts from a school canteen. Up close they are graves: a memorial to women killed by violence in Australia, many of them by a partner, their "sweetheart".
Each heart is carved with a phrase people use to excuse or minimise that violence: He was drunk. Rough patch. He's a good bloke. His team lost. She coulda left. Co-creator Philippa Lysaght told the ABC the phrases are meant to be familiar: "It should make you feel sick when you see that you recognise it."
Sweethearts (No. 38) is by Flim Flam Studio, a Sydney collective of Philippa Lysaght, Omi McCurdie and Matty McCarron, all first-time exhibitors. The phrases came from women in their community, Women's Community Shelters staff, victim-survivors and men's groups, and the facts behind the work were checked with the research body ANROWS. All profits go to Women's Community Shelters.
15 works to find at Marks Park
We photographed these works on Saturday 17 October, all in and around Marks Park. They are listed by catalogue number, which matches the plaque at each work and the official map. Each artist's name links to their own website where they have one. Chen Wenling has no website we could find, and Lubo Mikle's site was showing an error on 17 October, so those two link to their entries in the official exhibition guide.
Cloud Watcher
Chen Wenling ↗ China
Bronze, stainless steel and paint · 3.6m tall
A red figure balances a mirrored sphere on his head. Chen took the idea from the poet Wang Wei's line: "Walk to where the water ends, sit and watch the clouds rise."
Artwork: Cloud Watcher by Chen Wenling. Photographed at the public exhibition.
Oushi Zokei - Enmusubi II
Keizo Ushio ↗ Japan
Grey and white granite · 2.4m tall
A twisted granite loop based on a Mobius strip, a shape that stays joined even when it is cut. Ushio says it imagines a good relationship between two people. This is his 50th Sculpture by the Sea show.
Artwork: Oushi Zokei - Enmusubi II by Keizo Ushio. Photographed at the public exhibition.
Seed
Reclaimed wood and paint · 2m tall
White and black timber shards burst upward from a narrow base. The work draws on the regrowth that sprouts from burnt trunks after the Black Summer fires.
Artwork: Seed by Elyssa Sykes-Smith. Photographed at the public exhibition.
H.T.S. (2024)
Lubo Mikle ↗ Slovakia
PVC and zinc-coated steel · 2.2m tall
A cluster of black spiked stars on a thin stem, set on the sandstone with nothing but ocean behind it. The artist's statement is two words: "Parallel reality."
Artwork: H.T.S. (2024) by Lubo Mikle. Photographed at the public exhibition.
Unveiling the Edges of the Sky
Harrie Fasher ↗ NSW
Steel and bronze · About 6m tall
This year's winner of the $70,000 Aqualand Sculpture Award. A huge open steel frame holds a figure that pays homage to female deities in ancient Indian mythology, about emerging from darkness into light.
Artwork: Unveiling the Edges of the Sky by Harrie Fasher. Photographed at the public exhibition.
Growth Within
Shovin Bhattacharjee ↗ India
Stainless steel · 2.4m tall
A dark studded pod sprouts polished steel stems topped with mirror domes and a red flower. Bhattacharjee says it is about inner change that blossoms outward.
Artwork: Growth Within by Shovin Bhattacharjee. Photographed at the public exhibition.
Sweethearts
Cement and mixed materials · 55cm hearts
Heart-shaped graves for the women killed by violence in Australia this year. Read more in the section above.
Artwork: Sweethearts by Flim Flam Studio. Photographed at the public exhibition.
Pinnacle
Clayton Blake ↗ Queensland
Stainless steel, acrylic and lighting · 12m tall
A 12-metre mirrored spire you can walk inside. Blake drew on Brutalist architecture and uses forced perspective so it seems to keep rising forever.
Artwork: Pinnacle by Clayton Blake. Photographed at the public exhibition.
What is Happening to Me?
Stainless steel, copper and river stone · 4.2m wide
A woven copper form, studded with river stones, hangs from upturned steel branches. Berman says it is about disorientation and our upturned relationship with nature.
Artwork: What is Happening to Me? by Dr Bronwyn Berman. Photographed at the public exhibition.
Drawn Apart
Brushed mirror stainless steel · 3.8m tall
A tall mirrored column that pinches almost to nothing in the middle: two forms that were once one, slowly separating. The word LOVE overhead is another artwork, Stephanie Quirk's skywriting piece, written above the coast on opening Saturday.
Artwork: Drawn Apart by Sam Hopkins. Photographed at the public exhibition.
M-fiftyseven
James Parrett ↗ NSW
Marine-grade stainless steel · 2.6m tall
Cut and rearranged circular arcs that look like a wave curling over. Parrett won the top Aqualand prize here in 2018.
Artwork: M-fiftyseven by James Parrett. Photographed at the public exhibition.
Solander
James Rogers ↗ NSW
Steel · 2.5m tall
Looping ribbons of dark steel. Rogers was in the very first Sculpture by the Sea in 1997, has shown at Bondi 22 times and won the top prize last year.
Artwork: Solander by James Rogers. Photographed at the public exhibition.
Silent Crossing
Jimmy Rix ↗ Victoria
Corten steel · 2.5m tall
An owl in flight, its wings forming an arch you can frame the Bondi skyline through. Rix calls it a symbol of passage between seen and unseen worlds.
Artwork: Silent Crossing by Jimmy Rix. Photographed at the public exhibition.
A Great White Pointer View
Ian Swift ↗ NSW
Driftwood, glass, bone, plastic and timber · 2.75m long
A driftwood shark with a message painted along its side. Swift's statement: "Humans! Go back to where you came from!"
Artwork: A Great White Pointer View by Ian Swift. Photographed at the public exhibition.
Both Sides Now
Paul Ewart ↗ NSW
Polished steel · 2.8m tall
A faceted mirror head based on Janus, the two-faced Roman god. Each face looks the opposite way and can never see the other's view. Ewart is a first-time exhibitor.
Artwork: Both Sides Now by Paul Ewart. Photographed at the public exhibition.
Free artist talks every weekend
The artist talks are free and open to everyone. They run each weekend of the exhibition between 10am and 3pm, at the work being discussed, and the day's schedule is posted on blue Aqualand Artist Talks boards along the walk.
The programs for the middle weekend (24 and 25 October) and the final weekend (31 October and 1 November) have not been published yet. Check the official page before you go. While you are there, vote in the People's Choice Award.
| Time | Artist | Where | Site |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10am | Nigel Dobson | Marks Park | 37 |
| 10.30am | Procrastinatedon | Marks Park | 41 |
| 11am | Dominique Sutton | Marks Park | 40 |
| 11.30am | Malcom Bywaters | Gaerloch Ave | 69 |
| 1pm | Gleb Dusavitskiy | Gaerloch Ave | 76 |
| 2pm | Nenad Milovanović | Marks Park | 25 |
When to look for whales
Humpbacks are heading south past Sydney right now. NSW National Parks says whales travel south from July to November. Spring is when mothers pass close to shore with their calves.
- 7am to 9am: when we have been seeing them most mornings this week, and the quietest time on the path.
- Late morning to early afternoon: the official tip from Parks Australia, because there is less glare off the water.
- Any time, if it is calm: a flat, clear day matters more than the hour, because blows and splashes are easier to spot on smooth water.
- Where: Marks Park at Mackenzies Point, where most of the works above are. It also has an Aboriginal rock engraving of a whale that Waverley Council estimates is around 2,000 years old.
- Bring binoculars and stay at least 5 metres back from cliff edges, as NSW National Parks advises.
Getting there: leave the car at home
Around 450,000 people are expected over the 18 days and parking near Bondi fills early on weekends. Transport for NSW and the organisers both recommend public transport. Marks Park sits roughly halfway along the walk, so you can start from either end.
- Bondi end: start at Notts Avenue, next to Icebergs. Tamarama end: start near Pacific Avenue.
- Route 333 runs from Circular Quay to Bondi Beach. Or take a T4 train to Bondi Junction and a bus to the beach.
- Extra buses: the 381 loop between Bondi Junction and Tamarama (daily, 9.15am to 6.50pm), the 380 to North Bondi (about every 10 minutes, 10am to 5pm) and the 362 from Coogee and Bronte (weekends, every 15 minutes, 10am to 6pm).
- Special event clearways apply on all three weekends and cars are towed. Notts Avenue is closed to traffic 7.30am to 6.30pm daily.
- Go on a weekday if you can, or start at 7am with the whales.
Sources & checking
Photographed in person at the exhibition on 17 October 2026 and checked the same day against the sources below. Programs, transport and access can change, so check with the organiser before you travel. Whale sightings are never guaranteed, and this is not safety advice.
- Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi ↗
- Sculpture by the Sea official exhibition guide ↗
- Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi: planning your trip ↗
- Sweethearts, Flim Flam Studio ↗
- Transport for NSW: Sculpture by the Sea 2026 ↗
- NSW National Parks: whale watching tips and guidelines ↗
- Parks Australia, Booderee National Park: whale watching ↗
- Waverley Council: Marks Park ↗
- ABC News: Sculpture by the Sea celebrates 30 years ↗
- Waverley Council: Burriburri, Mackenzies Point engraving and whale migration ↗
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