2022

'Rise' is a public artwork situated in Marks Park which is dedicated to all the victims and survivors targeted during a spate of homophobic and transphobic violence from the 1970s to the 1990s in Sydney and NSW. It’s estimated as many as 88 gay men were murdered and many more members of the LGBTQ community assaulted during this crime wave, but the true number will possibly never be known. These murders took places far and wide across the city; in Marks Park and the clifftops o Bondi, the coastline of the eastern and northern beaches, the inner-city, northern suburbs and inner west.

This artwork commemorates those whose lives were lost and pays tribute to the courage and resilience of those who survived, as well as their families and loved ones. This dark chapter in Sydney’s history has left a painful legacy for LGBTQ communities. This memorial is a long term collaboration between Waverley Council and the Aids Council of New South Wales (ACON) which intends to help heal the grief and trauma that continues to be felt today. And with many cases still unsolved, this memorial also serves to raise greater community awareness of the issue of LGBTQ hate crimes, promote the continuing need to pursue the truth and justice, and serve as a reminder of the importance of valuing and celebrating diversity in our community.

The monument was designed by artist John Nicholson of Brisbane’s Urban Art Projects. The work consists of a series of stone terraces which replicate the exact topography of the cliffs below Marks Park, where a number of gay men were assaulted and thrown from to their deaths. The artwork symbolises the inversion of the experience of the victims, with each of the six terraces representing steps that climb towards the horizon and the sky, and as a pathway forward from the history of violence.

Each of the six stone terraces also represent the six bands of the LGBTQ Pride flag, with the steps that front them featuring engraved plaques telling the stories of the brutal history of that era, as well as pivotal milestones in the history of Sydney’s LGBTQ community.