‘I wanted it to disappear eventually but I wanted people to see it first’

Wendy Sharpe has been working on her massive mural at the Sydney Jewish Museum for two years. Because of Covid, no one will be able to see it

AT MORE THAN 40 metres long and covering all four walls of the Sydney Jewish Museum’s temporary exhibition space, Wendy Sharpe’s latest project is part travelogue, part family history and part meditation on place and time. Some two years in the making, it’s a monumental work from one of the nation’s best-loved artists.

But incredibly, apart from the artist herself and a few museum staff, no one will ever see the mural before its scheduled destruction at the beginning of September.

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While the piece was only ever intended to be a temporary work before being torn down when the museum begins a major renovation project, it was still meant to be open to the public for two months.

However, that period has coincided exactly with Sydney’s pandemic lockdown, which has forced the museum to close its doors before a single visitor gets to see the work.

FULL STORY The heartbreaking exhibition that no one will see (SMH)

Photo: Edwina Pickles