PERTH.- Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, the annual outdoor sculpture exhibition, returns to transform the famous white sands of Cottesloe from 6 – 23 March 2020.

Celebrating its 16th year, the exhibition is one of Perth’s largest free public events, attracting an estimated 210,000 visitors to explore the art and create Perth’s own version of the Italian passeggiata.

Artists from 17 countries have created 70 sculptures to surprise and delight visitors to the 18-day exhibition, including award-winning Japanese artist Haruyuki Uchida, one of the world’s most prominent kinetic artists, as the 2020 Tourism WA Invited International Artist. Uchida has created the largest gravity defying sculpture he has made outside of Japan for Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, a new 7.5metre long kinetic sculpture made from stainless steel and magnets titled Merry Gate that is sure to be a favourite among visitors to the exhibition.

Other international highlights include Karl-Christian Geleff (Denmark), Dave Glass (Portugal) and Vaclav Fiala (Czech Republic), exhibiting alongside some of WA and Australia’s leading sculptors.

This year, Sculpture by the Sea and the Bendat Family Foundation announced the inaugural recipients of the Bendat Family Foundation WA Invited Artists Program: sculptors Olga Cironis, Tony Davis and R.M (Ron) Gomboc, with Davis also set to join the Decade Club after exhibiting at Cottesloe for a tenth year.

During the exhibition Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe will host three Beach Access Days from Tuesday 17 March – Thursday 19 March. Extended an extra day in 2020, Beach Access Days will see special matting installed for three days during the exhibition, which will enable visitors with limited mobility and those using manual wheelchairs to access sculptures located in specific areas on the beach.

The Alcoa School Education Program returns for its 16th year to Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe as a highlight for school-aged children and their teachers, with a total of 28,368 school students having participated in the program since its introduction in 2005. Approximately 2,000 primary and secondary students will participate in artist led practical sculpture workshops, focus tours and artist talks during the exhibition.