Upside-Down Garden, a new immersive installation by Indonesian/Australian artist Jumaadi, has been unveiled in the through-site link of International House at Barangaroo South, transforming the spot into a multi-sensory experience through an interplay of sculptural metalwork, sound and shadow.

The permanent installation is Jumaadi’s first-ever public artwork and his most ambitious project to date. Commissioned by Lendlease in partnership with Infrastructure NSW and curated by Glenn Barkley and Holly Williams, the work features a series of hanging sculptural metal forms drawn from real, imagined and botanical worlds. These sculptural elements are accompanied by a soundscape based on sun and moon cycles, developed in collaboration with composer Michael Toisuta, and a carefully designed lighting scheme that animates the space through shadow play.

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Upside-Down Garden reflects on the transformation of life and objects from one state to another, with the hybrid forms drawing on myth and memory, shaped by the artist’s Indonesian heritage, personal motifs, traditional shadow puppetry and storytelling traditions.

“My work is about questioning the hierarchy between human and nature,” says Jumaadi. “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.”

Born in Indonesia, Jumaadi migrated to Australia in the 1990s and has built a practice spanning painting, drawing, performance and installation. His work is deeply informed by both personal experience and the political and aesthetic traditions of his homeland. Upside-Down Garden continues his exploration of light and shadow, influenced by wayang kulit, the traditional shadow puppet theatre originating in Java and Bali.

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Jumaadi’s artwork creates a fantastical world of colourful sculptures to enliven Barangaroo South, curators Barkley and Williams observe. “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.”

The latest installation forms part of Lendlease’s broader Barangaroo Public Art and Cultural Contribution, valued at more than $40 million. All artworks are being delivered under the joint NSW Government and Lendlease Public Art and Cultural Plan, which provides a strategic framework for Infrastructure NSW, Lendlease and future development partners to guide the commissioning and management of public art across the precinct.

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“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,” says Dan Baxter, Executive Director Development NSW/ACT, Lendlease. “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.”

Observing that the artwork speaks to the precinct’s evolving identity and its connection to nature and culture, Simon Mordant, Chair, Lendlease Arts and Cultural Panel, adds, “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.”

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

Images: Supplied

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