Samarasya by Jen Mallinson reflects the high-calibre work the public can admire at Sculpture Bermagui. Photos: Supplied.
Sculpture Bermagui returns after receiving a record 309 entries, prompting the exhibition’s organisers to find new venues to accommodate the 220 artworks selected.
Bermagui will be abuzz in early March as sculptors from far and wide bring their creations to the coastal town while volunteers and Marine Rescue Bermagui install them under the careful eye of curators Victoria Nelson and Carolyn Killen on the Dickinson Point Headland and other venues.
In addition to the main Sculpture Bermagui exhibition that runs from 7 to 15 March, visitors will be able to see an installation created by local First Nations youth, previous exhibition entries that now reside on public and private properties in Bermagui, sculptor Marr Grounds’ extraordinary sculpture collection at the Narra Bukulla property in Tanja, and exhibitions by painter Margaret Hogan.
Hogan was selected as the 2025 Narra Bukulla Artist-in-Residence. She will be exhibiting her work at both the studio at Narra Bukulla and Harbourview House.
FLING Physical Theatre and Stonewave Taiko Drumming will perform Okina Mura: Big Village, an inter-generational music and movement collaboration. With participants aged from six to 75, it is a visual clash of joyful dance, drumming and artistic expression. Catch the free performance at 5:30 pm on 7 March in front of the Bermagui Beach Hotel.
Judging this year’s works is Terence Maloon OAM, former director of the Drill Hall Gallery at ANU. He brings decades of experience in art and a passion for sculpture.
This year, along with the $50,000 prize pool, Belconnen Arts Centre is offering a six-week exhibition opportunity at its venue. The centre’s artistic director and co-CEO Monika McInerney will select the winning artist.
Gary Campbell will be working with First Nations youth to create an installation.
Sculpture Bermagui president Ivan Baker said the exhibition had so much to offer this year, with 220 indoor and outdoor pieces.
“It was a choice of knocking back a third of the entries or finding ways to creatively curate them,” he said.
Exhibition venues include Bermagui Surf Lifesaving Club, Shop 7 Artspace, Bermagui Beach Hotel and Bermagui Country Club.
“You can start at the headland, and there will be works all the way down to Shop 7 at the Fishermen’s Cooperative, plus there is a map with previous sculptures on public and private property,” Mr Baker said.
“You can easily spend a day and a half looking at all of them.”
Djiringanj brothers Gary and Paul Campbell have grant funding to help local Aboriginal youth create an installation that represents how their great-great-grandfather lived on the headland, previously known as Campbell’s Point, before colonisation.
“We will have all the materials and will watch the kids set it up based on storytelling,” Gary said.
“We want to show the local community and visitors how my family lived, what conditions my great-great-grandfather had and what he faced. He was a hunter, gatherer, fisher and a Traditional Owner. That land was his.”
It will be built in the week leading up to Sculpture Bermagui and will run throughout the exhibition.
Volunteers help set up Sculpture Bermagui, which is set to provide another visual feast for art lovers.
Ms Nelson said Sculpture Bermagui was unique because so many people in Bermagui supported it, and the committee was outstanding.
“It has continued for 20 years and that is a credit to Bermagui as well as to the sculptors,” she said. “I think the financial benefit to Bermagui’s businesses is the same as Easter, so it is a wonderful addition to our community.”
She said that about 20 years ago, regional councils realised that sculpture attracted more visitors.
“People come into regional towns with sculpture because they feel the town is safe and has civic pride,” Ms Nelson said. “People can wonder why the arts are embraced. It is because it is exciting and rewarding for everyone.”
Sculpture Bermagui would not be possible without its core team of 50 to 60 volunteers each year. In 2025, about 100 volunteers donated more than 3000 hours of their time.
A sculptor and artist herself, Ms Nelson was up to the challenge of curating 220 artworks alongside Ms Killen, former owner of the Ivy Hill Gallery near Bermagui. Ms Killen has an amazingly long history in the arts as a curator.
“We know that artists go through huge physical and emotional expense putting work into exhibitions, so we want to exhibit them at their very best,” Ms Nelson said.
She has been involved with Bermagui’s sculpture exhibition, which started life as Sculpture on the Edge, for most of its existence. She was an early committee member, has exhibited, and has curated both the indoor and outdoor exhibitions over the years.
“It’s a wonderful, exciting time in Bermagui,” Ms Nelson said. “The committee has been amazing, and the volunteers are amazing, and thanks to Jan Ireland and the original committee for establishing it.”
