'Save the Kebab'

City of Perth urged to restore iconic artwork ahead of $250k Boonji Spaceman spend.

Key points: 

• We are calling on the City of Perth to reinstate Ore Obelisk, a public artwork affectionately known as 'the kebab', before spending $250k to install American artwork Boonji Spaceman in its place.
• 'Save the Kebab' says installing Boonji Spaceman whilst Ore Obelisk sits in storage erodes Perth's cultural heritage and represents poor value to the people of Perth.

The Perth community is calling on the City of Perth to 'Save the Kebab' and reinstate Ore Obelisk, an artwork affectionately known as 'the kebab' that is set to be replaced by American artwork Boonji Spaceman at a cost of $250k to ratepayers.

Boonji Spaceman was gifted to the city by New York artist Brendan Murphy in 2024. Self-taught, Murphy was a professional athlete and Wall Street trader before taking up art in the early 2000s. Editions of the seven-metre, chrome-finished spaceman statue can be seen in London, Oslo, Dubai and Antigua. 

Ore Obelisk is a 15-metre artwork by the City’s first appointed planner, Paul Ritter. It was commissioned in 1971 to celebrate Western Australia’s mining heritage and marks the state’s one-millionth resident. A much-loved landmark in Stirling Gardens for 50 years, 'the kebab' features stacked spheres of ore from across the State. The artwork has been in storage since it was removed forconservation in 2021.

The decision to install Boonji Spaceman in place of Ore Obelisk shows deep disrespect for Perth's cultural heritage, represents poor value and directly contradicts the City's public art policies.

Ore Obelisk is a landmark piece of West Australian historythat recognises the importance of the mining industry to the State. Boonji Spaceman is a generic, mass-produced sculpture with no connection to our people or place. 

A 2021 structural report costed the restoration of Ore Obeliskat $118,000 - less than half of what the City has flagged to install Boonji Spaceman.​ Ex-Lord Mayor Zempilas said in a media release that the cost of transporting and installing the statue was a small price to pay for a world-class attraction for the City.

We believe Perth deserves quality public art that amplifies our stories and supports our artists, not pieces parachuted in with little thought. 

Several other artworks of cultural significance are also in storage, including Arch by Lorenna Grant. Installed in 2009 as part of the award-winning Northbridge Piazza redevelopment, Arch was one of the city’s most innovative and instantly recognisable public artworks and was internationally celebrated. Arch was removed by the City of Perth for maintenance in 2023, with no commitment to reinstatement.

It's disgraceful that our city's cultural heritage is being quietly erased and replaced with imported art that serves largely to promote the foreign artist who gifted it. The $250k required to install Boonji Spaceman would be better spent bringing back the kebab and properly maintaining what exists.

'Save the Kebab' is collecting signatures to present in a submission to the Perth City Council meeting.

Sign and share this petition today!