Bermagui’s sculpture festival may have changed its name, but it still plans to showcase the same standard of high-quality artworks amidst the beauty of the coastal town.
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For the last 10 years, the festival was called Sculpture on the Edge, but it has become Sculpture Bermagui for legal reasons.
“We were denied access to using that name on an ownership basis,” Sculpture Bermagui president Paul Payten said.
“So we had to come up with our own name.”
Two of the festival’s biggest supporters are its patrons architect Philip Cox, AO and journalist Janet Hawley.
Mr Cox’s $5000 acquisitive prize will be up for grabs again this year, with the winning sculpture to be added to his impressive collection on his property at the Murrah.
Purchased 45 years ago and named Thubbul, it is a formerly logged site in the bush overlooking the Murrah River mouth and is now dotted with various sculptures.
“The idea was that people could come and look at them from time to time,” Mr Cox said of his acquisitive prize.
As he gave a tour of his property, he listed off the names and bios of the many artists whose works he now hosts.
“I’ve always been interested in sculpture,” he said.
Ms Hawley, who has been Mr Cox’s partner for about 26 years, said sculpture was a passion they both shared.
“We love creative things, we love art,” she said.
“It enhances your whole perception of life.
“The thing about art is that so much is free; you don’t have to buy it to enjoy it.”
Entries are still trickling in for the festival, but already there are over 70 to be displayed.
There will be a strong Indigenous Australian element, as Yuin elder Gary Campbell and his family will put an installation on the town’s headland and there will be a work on King Billy.
Stonewave Taiko drummers and chamber-folk trio The String Contingent plan to perform and there will be a commemoration of Bermagui sculptor Peter “Beatle” Collins, which will include a conversation with his friends and artists as well as the unveiling of his last unfinished piece.
Sculpture Bermagui will be on March 3-13 and will coincide with the Bermagui Seaside Fair on March 11.