A powerful human and personal connection to the War Graves desecration in Gaza.

Sydney artist Luke Cornish, also known as ELK, has won the 2026 Gallipoli Art Prize ($20 000 acquisitive prize auspiced by the Gallipoli Memorial Club) with his work “No Rest (The Vandalism of Deir al Balah)”

Artist Luke Cornish says No Rest (The Vandalism of Deir al-Balah) is “a response to the widely underreported desecration of the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, by the Israeli Defence Force— a place of supposed eternal rest —where lies the fallen of the First World War, a generation shaped by loyalty, courage, and comradeship, men who believed their sacrifice might secure a more peaceful future. My great uncle, Alfred Cook of the Australian Light Horse, is buried here.”

Read Luke Cornish’s full artist statement here

Using traditional composite techniques, the artwork is painted on board and then rendered with acrylic cement to give the appearance of sandstone to replicate the Commonwealth War Graves headstones. Black dripping paint at the edges, a core element of graffiti culture,  and linked with vandalism is an element associated with Cornish’s contemporary urban art practice.

Read the full media release here