A sea of hands, a giant ‘lifesaver-saurus’ and a melting robot: Queensland’s SWELL sculpture festival 2026 – in pictures

The beach becomes a giant art gallery each year as SWELL sculpture festival takes over Currumbin in Queensland’s south-east.

Almost 100 large-scale artworks are on display during the free, 10-day outdoor exhibition, now in its 24th year. Among the artists is invited guest Patricia Piccinini, whose bronze sculpture Salute to the Sun ‘is a chimera, seamlessly moving between deer, tree, fungus, human and motorcycle’. The works are on display until Sunday…