First Permanent Public Artwork by Acclaimed Indonesian/Australian Artist Jumaadi Unveiled at Barangaroo South

A major new permanent public artwork titled Upside-Down Garden by Indonesian/Australian artist Jumaadi has been unveiled in the through-site link of International House at Barangaroo South.

For his first ever public artwork and most ambitious to date, Jumaadi’s Upside-Down Garden features hanging sculptural metalwork forms drawn from real, fantastic and botanical worlds combined with a soundscape based on sun and moon cycles created in collaboration with composer Michael Toisuta, and a lighting element to play with shadows.

Commissioned by Lendlease in partnership with Infrastructure NSW and curated by Glenn Barkley and Holly Williams, the work is a magical environment that evokes the transformation of life and objects from one state to another. These hybrid forms in turn are inspired by myth and memory and drawn from the artist’s Indonesian heritage, his own personal motifs, traditional shadow puppetry and storytelling.

“My work is about questioning the hierarchy between human and nature. This garden is an overlapping of time, creatures and history – the seen and unseen world, ghosts and memory. Populated with archetypes — hybrids of human and vegetable, fauna and man-made, current and previous, familiar and oddity, seen and unseen, ambiguous and blunt — to represent love, beauty, displacement, commonality and human experience,” said artist Jumaadi.

Born in Indonesia, Jumaadi migrated to Australia in the 1990s. His practice spans a range of mediums including painting, drawing, performance and installation, inspired by his personal experiences as well as the political and aesthetic lineages of his homeland. This new work continues the artist’s exploration of light and shadow, taken from his fascination in wayang kulit, a tradition of shadow-puppet plays that originated in Java and Bali.

“We’re delighted to have worked with Jumaadi for his first public artwork, creating a fantastical world of colourful sculptures to enliven Barangaroo South. The interplay between negative and positive shapes within the hanging forms creates a pattern sometimes dense and opaque like the roots of a tree or gauzy and translucent like cloth or the shape of leaves against the sky. Natural light by day and spotlights at night cast shadowed silhouettes that make for endless discovery as you view it from different perspectives,” said curators Glenn Barkley and Holly Williams.

This installation forms part of the overall Barangaroo Public Art and Cultural Contribution by Lendlease in excess of $40 million. Lendlease has previously delivered several major permanent artworks in Barangaroo South, such as Shellwall by Esme Timbery with Jonathan Jones in 2015, Shadows by Sabine Hornig in 2019, and Mermer Waiskeder: Stories of the Moving Tide by Ghost Net Collective in 2023.

All artworks are being delivered under the joint NSW Government and Lendlease Public Art and Cultural Plan for Barangaroo, which provides a strategic framework for Infrastructure NSW, Lendlease and Barangaroo’s future development partners to guide the commissioning and management of public art across Barangaroo.

“Public art plays an important role in shaping the identity and experience of a place and creating a foundation for how people engage with and feel a sense of belonging in places they live, work and visit. Upside-Down Garden invites curiosity, reflection and connection — qualities that are central to Barangaroo South’s evolution as a vibrant, inclusive and culturally-rich precinct,” said Dan Baxter, Executive Director Development NSW/ACT, Lendlease.

“This commission further enriches Barangaroo with a work that speaks to the precinct’s evolving identity and its connection to nature and culture. Jumaadi’s Upside-Down Garden captivates audiences with its interplay of light, shadow, and sound, creating a space of wonder and imagination. This extraordinary installation is a defining moment in Barangaroo’s cultural landscape,” said Simon Mordant AO, Chair, Lendlease Arts and Cultural Panel.

Upside-Down Garden is on permanent public display now at Barangaroo South.

More information: lendlease.com