Hidden Bondi pt.1 ~ Hunter Sculpture Park
Hidden Bondi
Places to explore in Bondi Lockdown 2.0
Part 1: Hunter Sculpture Park
Location: Cnr Bondi Rd & Sandridge St, or off Notts Ave, Bondi Beach
Tucked away in South Bondi, behind Icebergs and with direct access to the coastal walk, is Hunter Sculpture Park. If you’re looking for somewhere new or a little different to take your daily hour’s exercise, this could be the ideal place to go as it links you back to ‘main’ Bondi very quickly. You can very easily wander past this park… but its worth taking a couple of minutes to check it out, and if you’re looking for peace and quiet, its the perfect place to relax.
Note: I can’t find a direct reason why this park is called Hunter Park - but I did a little bit of digging around and imagine it connects to the appointment of Alderman Hunter who became the Mayor of Waverley in 1934.
Sidenote: Hunter Sculpture Park sits very close to Mark’s Park, which horrifyingly, is infamous for being an area where gay hate crimes took place between the 1970s and the early 2000s. According to reports, as many as 88 men may have been pushed off the cliffs near the area by groups of young people. There are news reports in 2016 that a memorial to the men killed during that time was planned for Hunter Park, but I can’t find any evidence that its ever been built or placed there?
THE SCULPTURES
The park is called ‘Hunter Sculpture Park’ and in clear view there are a grand total of three sculptures. All three have featured in Sculptures by the Sea exhibition over the years, the most recent being an acquisition from the exhibition in 2007 - it may be time to update the collection Waverley Council!
The first sculpture you see on entering the park from the top, is a wooden construction, that won the prestigious prize at Sculpture by the Sea, 2005.
Chapel (2005) by Vaclav Fiala (Czech Republic)
Chapel for Sydney was created by Czech artist, Vaclav Fiala. The 5.5m high sculpture was acquired through the Lexus Prize for Sculpture in 2005. It was Fiala’s second win of a major prize in Sculpture by the Sea.
His sculptural approach is based on the reduction of shapes and is often inspired by architecture.
The second and most prominent sculpture in the park is a curl of stainless steel that looks over the ocean, by New Zealand artist Sasha Reid.
Life of the Beach (2007) by Sasha Reid (New Zealand)
Life of the Beach is inspired by the line of a lifesaver's reel and marks a century of the Surf Lifesaving Association. This piece was acquired after being exhibited in Sculpture by the Sea in 2007.
Sasha is interested in our reactions to the landscape and the history of our interactions with it, in particular the way we have used tools to change and remake the environment.
The final sculpture is one with a pop of colour. Linda Bowden's View with a Room is an example of steel formalist sculpture. This particular piece is an interpretation of the artist’s domestic surroundings through abstracted forms and planes. Linda describes the work as "an abstracted version of a room with four walls and the strong horizontal line being the floor line of the room."
View with a Room (2002), Linda Bowden (Australia)
So next time you’re wandering up from Notts Avenue, coming to end of the coastal walk near Icebergs, or strolling along Sandridge Street, pop in to this little park, take a look at some interesting art and enjoy the ocean views.
Sculpture information from Waverley Council and artists’ own websites
https://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/recreation/arts_and_culture/public_art/bondi_beach