NSW council refuses to show world-renowned Gaza artwork

A New South Wales local council has refused to show a world-renowned artwork about children killed in Gaza after asking organisers to investigate hiring “armed guards” to counter the risk of “community conflict” over the mural.

The organisers, Shoalhaven Friends of Palestine, were aiming to show the Wall of Tears installation by American artist Phil Buehler at the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery in Nowra on Tuesday, following the work being exhibited around Australia, including on the front lawns of Parliament House in Canberra in September. The massive artwork pays homage to the 18,457 children killed in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 19 July 2025 and was first shown in New York on 29 January to coincide with the second anniversary of the death of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old left to bleed out among the bodies of six family members after their car was targeted by an Israeli tank.

Shoalhaven city council asked the group to “investigate” the use of “armed guards” in a risk assessment seen by Guardian Australia. The perceived risks included “protest, counter-protest, community conflict” and “verbal abuse, intimidation or disruption arising from politically sensitive subject matter”. The group was also asked to reduce the exhibition window from eight days to three days and restrict attendance to RSVPs only in the gallery with “locked doors”, and also to no longer advertise the event due to potential “reputational risk” for the gallery or council due to their decision to host the exhibition.

One of the organizers wrote to the council stating she was “deeply disappointed” by the decision and said the “very suggestion that armed guards might be necessary for an exhibition commemorating dead children is deeply disturbing”. The organizers have now arranged for the work to be installed at Berry Uniting Church on Thursday, while the council has not responded to media about what had triggered the safety concerns.