Works by Ukrainian artists will be the highlight of the world’s largest outdoor sculpture exhibition, starting Friday in Sydney.
The annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition, near Bondi beach in Sydney, will raise money for the Australian-Ukrainian community’s humanitarian aid charity. The seaside gallery will show more than 100 exhibits from 16 countries from Oct. 21-Nov. 7.
Organizers of the event have said sculptures that are part of the Ukraine Showcase in Sydney are symbols of solidarity and resistance.
Colossus Holds Up the World by artist Egor Zigura is about the fragility of life and refers to Russian aggression in Ukraine in 2014. Another exhibit warns of the dangers of global warming.
The Ukrainian sculptures are curated by Viktoria Kulikova, the art director at the Abramovych Art Agency in Kyiv.
She told VOA the exhibition sends powerful messages of support to the people of Ukraine.
“It is very important for us because it is about a relationship with Ukraine and Australia also,” she said. “It is also about solidarity with Ukraine, about culture, about resistance, about our unity, also.”
Organizers of the exhibition on cliffs near Bondi beach say they want to remind Australians of the plight of Ukrainian refugees forced to flee Russia’s invasion.
About 400,000 visitors are expected to attend the exhibition, which has been held since 1997.
About 9,000 people displaced by the conflict have been granted visas in Australia. Australia is the largest non-NATO contributor of military aid to Ukraine.
It has sent missiles and armored personnel carriers as well as humanitarian supplies. The government has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russian institutions and its political and military leaders, including President Vladimir Putin.
Earlier this month, campaigners from the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations again called on Australia to declare the Russian government, military and its Federal Security Service, the FSB, terrorist organizations under Australian law.
