Silos become canvas for mural commemorating fallen ANZAC from tiny town

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Highlights: A 30-metre-high mural on the outskirts of Walpeup commemorates a local ANZAC soldier.Two Colombian artists have worked on murals across the world.The three silos can be seen clearly by motorists using the busy Mallee Highway.

Colombian artists living in Australia, Julián Clavijo and Camilo Delgado, recently finished a 30-metre-high mural commemorating a young soldier, Harold Thomas Bell, who was just 16 when he died during World War I.

Mr Clavijo and Mr Delgado have been working on their painting from a mechanical platform on a large crane in the town of Walpeup, 458km north west of Melbourne.

The process, which took a month and hundreds of litres of paint, has become a spectacle for both locals and motorists who pass through town from all over Australia.

The first day we were painting, a couple stopped and put out some chairs in front of the silo and left them there. Those chairs (then became) a place where people sat for hours to watch us work.

Camilo Delgado

El pintor y escultor Julián Clavijo junto al mural dedicado al soldado adolescente Harold Thomas Bell.

Painter and sculptor, Julián Clavijo, next to the mural dedicated to teenaged soldier, Harold Thomas Bell. Credit: Supplied / Julián Clavijo

Despite Waldeup itself only having a population of just over 150 people, the GrainCorp silos, equivalent in height to a nine-storey building, are situated beside the busy Mallee Highway with an average of 100 cars passing by daily.

Los muralistas colombianos Julián Clavijo y Camilo Delgado.

Julián Clavijo and Camilo Delgado with the unfinished mural. Credit: Supplied / Julián Clavijo

Paying tribute to ANZAC sacrifice

Commissioned by Mildura Regional Development, the mural features a likeness of Mr Bell, 16, who left his home town of Waldeup to serve in the 4th Light Cavalry Regiment of Australia.

As he was under-age, he used his cousin’s surname of Wickham to join up, sadly succumbing to his injuries on October 31, 1917, following the in the Middle East.

As a member of the famed light horse brigade, Mr Bell would have charged Turkish trenches on horseback armed with just a handheld bayonet.

En este colosal mural quedará plasmada la imagen de un soldado adolescente llamado Harold Thomas Bell.

Harold Thomas Bell, the subject of the mural, was just 16 when he died during World War I. Credit: Supplied / Julián Clavijo

Mildura Regional Development CEO, Brett Millington, said the mural would allow passers-by to “pause and reflect on the young man’s sacrifice”.

We hope that locals, travellers and passers-by can enjoy the mural while reflecting on and remembering a powerful legacy that is an important element in the identity of many Australian regional cities.

Brett Millington

Experienced mural artists

Mr Clavijo and Mr Delgado are experienced mural painters with Mr Clavijo the creator behind the Nylex Silo art work in Melbourne.

He also received the ‘Best Global Artist Award’ in the Street Art Category in Dubai in 2018, awarded by the Global Art Agency, the Wall Street Journal and the Government of the United Arab Emirates.

For his part, Mr Delgado painted a 650-square-metre mural on a water tower in Port Vincent, South Australia.

“It was my first experience painting a (tower) in Australia. It was a bit challenging in the sense that at first there were going to be three artists, but in the end, I ended up painting it by myself. So, the workload was a bit heavy,” he said.

The Walpeup mural was officially opened to the public on 24 June this year.

To listen to the story in Spanish, press PLAY at the top of this page.

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