Red flowers bloom at Bondi in tribute

More than 140 Sydney volunteers came together this week to hand-craft over 700 red paper poppies, known in Israel as anemones, for a striking Yom Hazikaron installation on the cliffs at Bondi Beach. It was a project that drew together survivors of the Bondi attack, Jewish and non-Jewish community members, and even passers-by who stopped to ask what was going on.

The initiative was spearheaded by JNF Australia’s Sarah Vanunu alongside Sydney artist Tracey Hayim, who drew inspiration from the Darom Adom — the Red South — the annual wildflower season in southern Israel where vivid red anemones bloom across the landscapes that are often scarred by conflict and loss.

“We wanted to move people from being ‘spectators’ of grief to active participants in remembrance,” Vanunu told The AJN. “After the trauma our community faced at Bondi, it felt vital to create a tangible way to process that shared pain.”

Hayim, who travelled with Vanunu on a JNF Israel Tour last year, was moved by the ceramic red flower installations now standing at the Nova festival site in the Re’im Forest and at the Sderot Police Station. The pair resolved to bring that vision to Sydney.

On Sunday, volunteers of all ages gathered at Lorraine’s at the Robin Hood in Bondi for a full-day workshop under Hayim’s guidance, crafting the flowers by hand across three shifts. Many stayed well beyond their allocated time.