Led by Sara Vanunu, the KKL-JNF emissary to Australia, in collaboration with Sydney-based artist Tracey Hayim, the project involved the hand‑crafting of 700 red paper anemones, inspired by the memorial installation at the Nova Massacre site and the beloved Darom Adom (Scarlet South) Festival celebrating the seasonal red anemones in that same region.
Volunteers of all ages and backgrounds—Jewish and non‑Jewish alike—took part in the project.
The initiative culminated on the morning of April 21, the date Israelis were observing Memorial Day. As the sun rose over the South Pacific Ocean, the rays lit upon the 700 paper anemones, lovingly installed by hand at Mark’s Park on the Bondi cliffs to create the form of a single, large anemone.
The installation, set against the dramatic Bondi cliffs at dawn, created a moving visual link between the pain felt in Israel and the trauma experienced by the local community following the terrorist attack that murdered 15 people celebrating the first night of Hanukkah on Bondi Beach.
For Sara Vanunu—who had been celebrating her son’s Bar Mitzvah at the adjoining Bondi Pavilion as the attack unfolded—the project was especially personal. “For me, leading this project was part of a process of healing and deep community connection,” she said.
A video documenting the process was screened at the Sydney Jewish community’s central Yom HaZikaron ceremony, before an audience of more than 1,000 people, drawing deeply emotional responses and strengthening the sense of Jewish solidarity between countries and continents.