Sentinel Sculpture

Sentinel

Created by internationally renowned artist and long-term Manningham resident Inge King, Sentinel was conceived as an icon of the City of Manningham.

Artwork completed 2000.  

Standing approximately 13 metres high and weighing 12 tonnes, Sentinel was the first of three sculptures commissioned by Manningham Council to mark the major gateways to the city. 

Casting a watchful eye over the area, its curved shapes symbolise the two creeks of the municipality - the Mullum Mulum and the Koonung. They enclose the blue oval form representing the City of Manningham. 

Also by Inge King - Boulder.

Location of artwork:  Doncaster Road exit, Eastern Freeway / 401 Doncaster Road, Doncaster, VIC 3108. View on map

About the artist

Inge King AM was pivotal in developing and diversifying abstract sculpture in Australia and worked actively until she was 98 years old.

Born in Berlin, King trained at the Berlin Academy from 1937 to 1938, the Royal Academy School in London in 1940, and the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland, from 1941 to 1943. She taught art in Glasgow and London from 1944 to 1949. After moving to Australia in 1950, she taught sculpture at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology from 1976 to 1987. 

A powerful female voice in the male-dominated sphere of industrial sculpture, King was part of the Centre Five group whose mission it was to help foster greater public awareness of contemporary art while integrating large-scale sculpture with architecture.

King used industrial techniques and surface finishes to construct refined geometric sculptures. With sequential shapes and formalist progressions, her works give a sense of movement frozen in time. The artist considered sculpture ‘vision in motion’ and described her work as ‘drawing from a thousand different angles’.

The importance of the viewer’s perspective and their dynamic experience of each object and its environment was central to King’s practice.

Learn more about Inge King 

Website - National Gallery of Australia

Website - National Gallery of Victoria

Website - Australian Centre for Contemporary Art



Sentinel Location - GoogleMaps Nov2024


Sentinal Location - GoogleMaps April2022



Iconic artwork on the move as Eastern Freeway Upgrades forge ahead

An upgraded road bridge at Doncaster Road is one step closer with the locally significant Sentinel moving to a new home after almost 25 years, as construction crews ramp up work on the Eastern Freeway Upgrades.

The iconic Sentinel art sculpture is being permanently relocated from the outbound Doncaster Road exit on the Eastern, to a new site to be determined in consultation with the City of Manningham.

Created by internationally renowned artist and local resident Inge King AM (1915-2016) to become an icon of the City of Manningham, Sentinel stands at approximately 13 metres high and weighs 12 tonnes.

Casting a watchful eye over the area, its curved shapes symbolise the two creeks of the municipality - the Mullum Mullum and the Koonung. They enclose the blue oval form representing the City of Manningham.

In order to support works and pave the way for future freeway widening, Sentinel must be permanently relocated. Crews moved the sculpture during October of 2024.

As part of a carefully coordinated and staged approach, the sculpture will initially be relocated to a temporary storage facility while Eastern Freeway Upgrades step up and will be unveiled at its new location when works at the Doncaster interchange are complete.

The Sentinel sculpture's future resting place will be determined in conjunction with the City of Manningham so it can continue to enjoyed by many people for years to come.

The Eastern Freeway Upgrades will transform travel – providing a seamless connection with the new North East Link tunnels and linking Melbourne’s east with the M80 Ring Road.

The first major upgrade of the Eastern Freeway since the 1990s, the project will reduce travel time, take trucks off local roads and create better connections for the community to access local shops, public transport, schools and open spaces.

The Eastern Freeway Upgrades will deliver new express lanes, new traffic management technology and Melbourne’s first dedicated busway - changes that will slash travel times and improve public transport in Melbourne’s east.

As we overhaul the Eastern Freeway, the project will build new and upgraded walking and cycling paths, bridges and underpasses, upgrade Koonung Creek Reserve, revitalise wetlands and waterways and plant new trees and plants.

For more information about this project, please visit our Eastern Freeway Upgrades webpage.



Celebrating Manningham Art 

Manningham City Council Community Calendar for the year 2013 with art theme. The illustrations include artworks acquired by the Manningham Art Gallery. There is also a photo of the 'Sentinel', the iconic sculpture at the gateway to the City of Manningham, at the intersection of the Eastern Freeway and Doncaster Road Inscrip- also the 'Helmet', at Banksia Park at the junction of Bridge Street, Banksia Street and Manningham Road. 

Source: DD14AF13D3

DD14AF13D3 which is the 2013 Manningham Community Calendar. There is an image of the Sentinel sculpture with a caption that reads as follows “Sentinel was conceived as an icon for Manningham, casting a watchful eye over the area. The sculpture marks the western or Doncaster gateway to Manningham and was commissioned as part of Council’s Streetscape Improvement Program. The multi-coloured crown is the focal point of the work; its curved shapes symbolize the two creeks of the municipality- Mullum Mullum and Koonung - and they enclose the blue oval form representing Manningham. 
Inge King, the sculpture, Sentinel, steel 2000 (acquired 2000).”

Source: DTHS Researchers


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