i have been dreaming to be a tree … II by Byeong Doo Moon at the 2011 Sculpture by the Sea Bondi (Image: Adelaide Now)

Today marks the opening of Sculpture by the Sea, the iconic outdoor art exhibition which has become a favourite Sydney event.

For the next two weeks, the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk will be dotted with over one hundred art installations, and thronged by scores of Sydneysiders taking in the spectacular seaside vista. Last year’s event attracted around half a million visitors.

Artworks are judged each year and a list of winners announced. While exhibits range from the conventional and utilitarian to the more quirky and bizarre,  all are contemporary pieces designed to provoke a reaction. Past years have featured an surreally-oversized table and chair setting , a wire reindeer looking out to sea and a tube of paint in the process of being squeezed out.

Tomas Misura’s ‘splash’ at Sculpture by the Sea Bondi in 2010 (Image: Sculpture by the Sea)

Since its inaugural exhibition at Bondi Beach in 1996, Sculpture by the Sea has expanded to Cottesloe in Perth and Aarhus in Denmark. The event was conceived when Sydneysider David Handley was living in Prague, Czech Republic, and visited an outdoor sculpture exhibit. Upon his return to Australia, he coordinated the first one-day event now known as Sculpture by the Sea.

Bondi’s Sculpture by the Sea begins today and runs until Sunday 10th November. For more information, go to Sculpture by the Sea’s website.