2002

Bondi resident Chloe Byron was 15 in 2002 when holidaying in Bali with her family, and died during the ‘Bali Bombings’ that occurred on 12 October. She was one of the 88 Australians who were killed during the three bombings. Her father is well known as a member of Bondi Beach’s longboard-surfing community. In 2003, to memorialise Chloe, local aerosol artist Droogie painted a mural on the Bondi Sea Wall. Along with a portrait of Chloe, he included a view of the beach, a longboard and an array of frangipani flowers. The vividly colourful artwork became known as the Chloe Memorial Mural and Chloe as the girl with the frangipani in her hair. Over the years since it was painted, the Chloe Memorial Mural has become a beloved part of the Bondi landscape, as a depiction and reflection of elements of the active beach culture that was such an important part of Chloe’s life while she was growing up. Droogie’s artwork is one of two murals that Waverley Council has made permanent. In 2012, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Bali Bombings, and in consultation with Chloe’s family, the council commissioned Droogie to give the mural a makeover.

Courtesy Droogie, the Byron family and Waverley Library Local Studies Collection.