Public art for Harbour Park, Central Barangaroo, unsuccessful competition submission of finalist team of Oculus.
PoetsJazz Money (Wiradjuri)
Joel Davison (Dhungatti/Gadigal)
Commissioner Infrastructure New South Wales
Landscape architectsOculus
COLA Studio
Jiwah
ArchitectsDiller Scofidio + Renfro
CuratorBarbara Flynn, Art Advisor
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Aligned with this focus, art’s role is to give voice to the knowledge, pride and connection of Aboriginal people to Country – and, quoting architect and competition juror Jefa Greenaway, to ‘make the invisible visible’. We understand Country to be more than the land – Country is the ground beneath us, the waters, airs and skies around us, the people, kin, care, song and story that make the world whole. The public art for Harbour Park has been conceived to encompass all these manifestations of Country on what is, was, and always will be Aboriginal land. Landscape as a reflection of the resilience of mob is something the group has thought about.
The idea of Sky Country is important, and the ways the land is a reflection of the sky, and the sky a reflection of the land.
We recognise and want to work with the fact that, in the past, water was everywhere on the site that is concrete today and will be a park tomorrow. This is an aspect we are very much looking forward to exploring.
Our project work is based on the idea of equity, in design and every other respect. Quoting team member Kaylie Salvatori, a Saltwater Budawang (Yuin) woman, ‘When we do right by mob, we do right by everyone.’ There is no idea of exclusivity here. Everyone is welcome. Our team’s combined form of art and design has considered users across generations with special thought to children. Questions we’ve asked include how people from all nations, demographics, age groups and walks of life can be made to feel welcome at Harbour Park and encouraged to stay for a while. What do residents and workers in the precinct want? What do the people living in the immediate vicinity of the site think, and what sorts of things would enrich their lives every day? What will attract them to return? What will make their neighbourhood a better place to live and be?
Text by Barbara Flynn, May 2023