Public art commission
Cowra Breakout Commemorative Sculpture
For the 75th Anniversary of the Cowra Breakout, Wayne Miles was commissioned to create an art installation that recognised those directly affected - an Australia guard, a Japanese POW, an Italian POW and an Indonesian mother and child.
On the early morning of the 5th August 1944, the calm was shattered by The Breakout, resulting in the deaths of 234 Japanese and 5 Australians.
Situated on the Cowra Prisoner of War (POW) Campsite, adjacent to the stunning Japanese Gardens, the silhouettes marks a significant moment in history juxtaposed against the ever-changing rolling fields and big skies of Cowra. The five steel sheets, each measuring 2x4 metres, depict aspects of the Cowra Prisoner of War Camp over its six-year life from 1941 to 1947. Read more about the commemoration and breakout here
The design for silhouettes in detail
