FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — In the aftermath of one of Australia’s worst mass killings in recent history, thousands of flowers left in mourning at Bondi Beach are being given new life -- transformed into art by a Melbourne-based artist whose own community was affected by the violence.
More than three tons of flowers were laid along Bondi Beach in the hours and days after an antisemitic mass stabbing in December, which occurred on the first night of Hanukkah.
The attack shattered a sense of safety for Australia’s Jewish community and prompted an outpouring of grief and solidarity.
Those flowers are now at the center of a communal art project led by artist Nina Sanadze, who plans to turn the memorial bouquets into preserved artworks that will eventually be exhibited at the Jewish Museum of Sydney.
Speaking from her home in Melbourne, Sanadze said the tragedy changed the country -- and inspired her mission.
“Australia’s not going to be the same for us. At least not for a little while,” she said. “But we felt the love, the embrace from the amazing community that came forward and started to speak up. And this is what I saw in the flowers that were laid in Bondi.”
Sanadze is working with more than 150 volunteers, including family members and friends of those killed in the attack, to dry, press and preserve each flower left in memory of the victims. The process has become a form of collective healing.
“I knew it was the flowers that could become the language of the artwork that could be made,” she said.
Sanadze said many participants did not initially realize they were becoming part of the artwork itself.
“People, without realizing, I think, they became part of the artwork,” she said.
Some sessions were later reserved specifically for victims’ families and first responders, allowing them space to grieve in a quieter environment.
Sanadze said the final pieces will reflect not only the tragedy itself but Australia’s response to unprecedented gun and antisemitic violence. The dried, wilted flowers will symbolize how a single moment reshaped lives and communities.
“The world needs to be reshaped after this event,” she said. “And similarly, these flowers are taking on a new shape.”
She compared the fragility of the flowers to human life.
“It’s almost like each flower is like a life,” Sanadze said. “It’s as fragile as our lives -- but it’s beautiful.”
The communal artwork is expected to be one of the first new exhibits at the Jewish Museum of Sydney, which is currently undergoing renovations and is scheduled to reopen in 2027.
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