Woollahra and Waverley councils have unveiled a permanent public sculpture honouring the victims of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, creating a lasting place of remembrance, reflection and healing for Sydney’s Jewish community.
The artwork, titled In Them We See Ourselves, was unveiled at Christison Park this morning by Woollahra Mayor Sarah Dixson and Waverley Mayor Will Nemesh with NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Michele Goldman.
Jointly commissioned by the neighbouring councils, the sculpture was designed in consultation with Sydney’s Jewish community and draws on themes of resilience, solace, connection and compassion. The artist has remained anonymous so the focus stays on the community rather than the individual creator.
The plaque besides the sculpture states that the work “recognises the continuing impact of the events of 7 October 2023 on our community and, in particular, on our Jewish community”.
It says the work draws inspiration from the Jewish concept of kriah, the tearing of a garment during mourning.
“With its fragments of weathered steel rising from the earth, leaning inward, offering shelter and a seat within, it speaks of both fracture and protection, grief and endurance,” the plaque reads.
“The gaps between the fragments of steel highlight the importance of lightness over darkness, and the seat provides a space for quiet reflection, contemplation and meditation.”
The plaque also notes that the anonymous artist worked closely with members of Sydney’s Jewish community, including people with close connections to the October 7 atrocities and their aftermath.
“By remaining anonymous, the artist allows the focus of the work to stay on the Jewish community.”
The project began after Woollahra Council resolved in October 2024 to commission a permanent public artwork, with Waverley Council unanimously supporting the initiative. Four artists were shortlisted and invited to develop detailed proposals before In Them We See Ourselves was selected by a joint committee including representatives of both councils, their arts advisory bodies and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.
Speaking at the unveiling, Dixson said Christison Park had been chosen because of its significance to the local Jewish community.
“This park was not chosen at random,” she said.
On 7 October 2024, around 12,000 people filled Christison Park for the United Together vigil, marking the first anniversary of the 7 October attack on Israel. People came here to mourn the victims, to stand with survivors and their families, and to call for the hostages to be brought home.”
She said the attacks had profoundly affected local residents.
“The events of 7 October were not something our residents or our councils experienced from afar. They were deeply personal, touching family members and friends, and the grief and fear that followed has been felt in our streets, our schools, workplaces and places of worship ever since.”
Describing the sculpture, Dixson said it “speaks of fracture and of protection, of grief and of endurance”.
“It acknowledges what has been broken, and it offers refuge.
“We are not asked to stand back and observe this artwork. We are invited to enter it, to sit within it, and experience it as part of this landscape with the ocean beyond.”
Nemesh said the project was conceived as a lasting expression of support for the local Jewish community following the Hamas attacks and the sharp rise in antisemitism.
“It was important to express our strong support of our Jewish communities, especially in the face of significant adversity since 7 October 2023 and the sharp rise in antisemitism,” he said.
He noted that Waverley is home to one of Australia’s largest Jewish communities, with about 16 per cent of residents identifying as Jewish. The Woollahra local government area is also home to a substantial Jewish community, with about 14 per cent of residents identifying as Jewish in the 2021 Census.
“This piece will stand as a quiet but powerful reminder of the enduring impact of the atrocities of the seventh of October, 2023, as well as the rise in antisemitism felt within our communities,” Nemesh said.
“The events of the seventh of October were so deeply felt here. They were not distant, nor were they abstract.
“For our Jewish community, they were personal. People in our area lost loved ones or knew somebody who did. That grief travelled across oceans and arrived here in our home.”
He said the wave of antisemitism that followed had deepened the community’s pain.
“Jewish residents in Waverley told us about their fear, their pain, and a sense of isolation that came with a sudden surge in hatred.
“The attacks of seventh of October themselves were devastating, but the wave of hatred that followed tore at the fabric of our community. It challenged our sense of safety and belonging that every person deserves.”
Nemesh said the sculpture was intended to be experienced rather than simply observed.
“From behind, the form becomes a flame, completed only when someone sits within it. It is a beautiful metaphor that remembrance, healing and resilience are made whole by the presence of community.
“It is part artwork, part monument, part a place to simply sit and breathe. It was designed to be touched, entered and experienced, a space of quiet contemplation.”
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Michele Goldman said the organisation was proud to have served on the joint artwork committee from the project’s inception.
“The artist of this magnificent work has chosen to remain anonymous, and that is to ensure that the focus of the work is collective, as it was a result of deep collaboration within Sydney’s Jewish community,” she said.
“The artwork itself is intended to inspire hope, understanding and moving forward as one community.”
Goldman said the sculpture’s placement at Christison Park would provide “a space of healing and reflection for years to come”.