Silo Art of Owen - South Australia

Wheat Bags to Sand bags

"Wheat Bags to Sand Bags" is a powerful artwork that captures a significant moment in rural Australia’s history at the outbreak of the First World War. This poignant mural represents a small yet crucial chapter in the nation’s story.

Australia had only recently become a federation in 1901, and in 1914, when the war began, young men and women from the rural districts were called to serve. At great personal and community cost, farmers and farm laborers from this area traded their wheat fields for the battlefields of Europe. This artwork stands as a tribute to their sacrifices.

The first part of the mural depicts a harvest scene set in Owen in 1914, with men loading bags of wheat onto a dray, which is being pulled by a team of draught horses. This scene symbolizes the daily life of the community as they worked the land, unaware that their world would soon be altered by the war.

The following part of the mural shifts to the year after, transporting us to the harsh realities of Gallipoli. One of the men from the earlier scene is now depicted in a trench, throwing sand into a sandbag, illustrating the stark contrast between life on the farm and the brutal conditions of war. The continuity of this character, who evolves from a farmer to a soldier, poignantly underscores the personal transformation many of these men endured.

The mural was fittingly completed around ANZAC Day in 2021, with Owen Community Centre Silo Art Committee member Nick Smyth explaining that the piece, titled "Wheat Bags to Sand Bags," pays homage to the region’s agricultural roots and military history. It also serves as a solemn tribute to the servicemen and women from the area who made the ultimate sacrifice during World War I.

For more information about this remarkable work of art, visit the Silo Art of Owen website.