Sergio Redegalli
Encyclopedia
Sergio Redegalli is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n glass art
Glass art
Studio glass or glass sculpture is the modern use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or three-dimensional artworks. Specific approaches include working glass at room temperature cold working, stained glass, working glass in a torch flame , glass beadmaking, glass casting, glass...
ist specialising in the architectural glass and glass sculptures. He is a director of the Cydonia Glass Studio located in Newtown
Newtown, New South Wales
Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the local government areas of the City of Sydney and Marrickville Council in the state of New South Wales, Australia....
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. Redegalli graduated from Sydney College of the Arts
Sydney College of the Arts
The Sydney College of the Arts in Rozelle, Sydney, Australia is the visual arts faculty of the University of Sydney. It is housed in the Kirkbride complex, a cluster of sandstone buildings designed by James Barnet, the government architect in the late 19th century...
with a Bachelor of Arts Glass (Visual Arts) in 1984 and a Graduate Diploma – Glass Visual Arts in 1988. His glass sculpture Cascade was commissioned for the World Expo in Brisbane in 1988. This massive 12 ton sculpture in the shape of a cascading wave is on display in Adelaide Botanic Garden
Adelaide Botanic Garden
The Adelaide Botanic Garden is a public garden at the north-east corner of the Adelaide city centre, in the Adelaide Park Lands. It encompasses a fenced garden on North Terrace and behind it the Botanic Park...
, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
.
In September 2010 Redegalli painted a mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
on his outer studio wall of a woman in a full-face Muslim covering
Burqa
A burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic religion to cover their bodies in public places. The burqa is usually understood to be the woman's loose body-covering , plus the head-covering , plus the face-veil .-Etymology:A speculative and unattested etymology...
with a strike symbol over her face and the words Say No To Burqas. The mural, visible from major train lines, has been defaced with paint countless times by protesters. Redegalli has claimed to have the support of the Marrickville community "10 to one". Community leaders have condemned the mural and former Mayor Sam Iskandar has stated that the mural, "goes against the values which the Marrickville community has believed in and practiced for generations".
In December 2010, members of the Australian Protectionist Party, described in an Australian Newspaper headline as “anti Islamist”, were encouraged to meet at the mural after being contacted by Redegalli. The intention was counteract a planned anti mural protest by persons whom Redegalli labelled as ‘socialists’ and ‘renters’. The resultant protest lead to the arrest of seven people.
A complaint was lodged by a local Muslim woman with the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board
Anti-Discrimination Act 1977
The Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 is an Act of the NSW Parliament, relating to discrimination in employment, the public education system, delivery of goods and services, and other services such as banking, health care, property and night clubs....
claiming that the mural is feeding racist and sexist attitudes. The supporters of the mural have voiced their concerns about security and the rise of Islamic extremism
Islamic extremism
Islamic extremism refers to two related and partially overlapping but also distinct aspects of extremist interpretations and pursuits of Islamic ideology:...
in Australia.