Who is public sculpture really for?

From colonial statues and monuments for healing to heavy metal abstractions, a discussion at the Sydney Sculpture Conference questioned public art's role.
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Maribyrnong City Council commissioned the public artwork, Pipedreams – a 12 metre wide and 8 metre high stainless steel sculpture, created and installed by renowned Australian artist, Matthew Harding.

On Saturday, 26 August this year, vandals attacked three historic statues in Sydney’s Hyde Park, tagging them with the words ‘Change the date’ and ‘No pride in genocide’. All four sides of the Captain Cook statue’s base were targeted; statues of Governor Macquarie and Queen Victoria were also tagged. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull reacted by calling the graffitiing a ‘cowardly criminal act’.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina