NSW council refuses to show world-renowned Gaza artwork over ‘unacceptable’ safety risk

Exclusive: Shoalhaven council says Wall of Tears installation by Phil Buehler posed risk to staff, visitors and tenants

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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, was 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.