Street artist Anthony Lister speaks out against Waverley Council’s plan to remove colonial mural on Bondi boardwalk

The owner of Bondi’s famed Icebergs restaurant has weighed in on public debate over a council plan to paint over a Bondi Beach mural which critics claim is visually offensive and ‘glories’ Australia’s colonial past.

The Bondi Beach mural has sparked a flurry of complaints from residents and visitors.

A Sydney street artist has hit out at a council plan to remove his long term mural in Bondi Beach after sparking complaints the artwork is visually “offensive” and “glories” Australia’s colonial past.

Waverley Council has announced plans to paint over two murals in south Bondi after receiving a spike in negative social media feedback in recent weeks.

According to the council, the artwork – which faces the main entrance to Bondi’s Icebergs restaurant – depicts “a stylised scene of colonial violence in which large, menacing figures portraying soldiers fire guns at First Nations people.”

The complaints, which surfaced over the long weekend, labelled the mural as “glorifying colonialism”, carrying “disrespectful symbolism”, and causing public “offence”.

Bondi street artist Anthony Lister, who created the work back in 2008, has slammed the council’s plan to paint over the works.

Street artist Anthony Lister.

He said the murals were aimed at shining a light on the treatment of Indigenous people in postcolonial Australia and has accused the council of stifling artistic expression.

“If people are offended by artworks depicting the colonial era then half the paintings in the Art Gallery of NSW would have to be taken down,” he said.

“My intention was to draw attention to the colonial state that we’re a part of and that message is quite present today with what we’re seeing in the Middle East.

The council is planning to paint over the work.

“It’s just another way the council sedates and mutes the sound of actual creatives.”

Listed said the work was inspired by Picasso’s well known Guernica artwork which is recognised as a powerful anti-war statement.

He also drew comparisons between his mural and the famous E. Phillips Fox oil painting of Captain Cook’s first landing – saying “at least my painting depicts Indigenous people fighting back at the soldiers shooting towards them”.

A photo of the mural.

Maurice Terzini, owner of Bondi Icebergs, said he had “no issue” with the mural and has not received any complaints about the artwork.

Mr Terzini said the public criticism of the mural could be indicative of changing demographics and ongoing gentrification of Bondi which he said has seen fewer creatives call the suburb home over the last decade.

“I’m a big fan of street art and it hasn’t offended me at all,” he said.

“It’s been there for a long time but I think people are more sensitive these days, maybe more aware and also feel more comfortable expressing their opinions.

“It’s also important that people are able to have different opinions on things”.

Restaurateur Maurice Terzini at Icebergs Bondi Beach.

The council has meanwhile confirmed plans to remove another mural at South Bondi, created by an unknown artist, which depicts an interpretation of an ‘emoji’ face and has been deemed by the council as “unauthorised”.

The council plans to send two painters to paint over both works in “simple black or white” at an estimated cost of $200.

Lister, who has also painted two other murals at Bondi, said he has limited options to stop the council removing his work.

The council also plans to remove the ‘emoji’ mural at South Bondi.

“Whatever they put in its place, I hope it’s something better than leaving it as just a grey wall,” he said.

According to the council, complaints about the artwork included negative feedback from “members of Waverley’s Indigenous community and their allies’’.

It also was the recipient of social media complaints – including from one visitor to Bondi who wrote “I am deeply offended by the disrespectful symbolism and glorification of colonialism”.

According to the council, the post stated: “I can’t believe this is up” and demanded: “Let’s get this (artwork) removed.”