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, , who was just 16 when he died during World War I.
Mr Clavijo and Mr Delgado worked on their painting from a mechanical platform fitted to a large crane in the town of Walpeup, 458km north west of Melbourne.
The project, 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
Painter and sculptor, Julián Clavijo, next to the mural dedicated to teenaged soldier, Harold Thomas Bell. Credit: Supplied / Julián Clavijo
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 Walpeup to serve in the 4th Light Cavalry Regiment of Australia.
As he was under-age, he used his mother's maiden name of Wickham to join up, sadly succumbing to his injuries the day after the in the Middle East.
During the battle on October 31, 1917, and as a member of the famed light horse brigade, Mr Bell charged Turkish trenches on horseback along with 800 others, armed with just a handheld bayonet.
Harold Thomas Bell, the subject of the mural, was just 16 when he died during World War I. Credit: Supplied / Julián Clavijo
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.
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