Sydney’s Barangaroo South has just unveiled a transformative new addition to its cultural landscape: Upside-Down Garden, a major permanent public artwork by Indonesian/Australian artist Jumaadi.
Located in the through-site link of International House, this ambitious installation invites visitors into a whimsical world of shadow, sound, and sculptural storytelling.
This unveiling marks a significant milestone for Jumaadi, representing his first-ever public artwork. It is a fantastical environment that blends the artist’s rich heritage with a modern, immersive sensory experience.
A Fusion of Sculpture, Sound, and Shadow
Upside-Down Garden is far more than a static visual piece. It is a multi-sensory installation designed to transport viewers into a realm where the boundaries between the natural and the man-made blur.
The artwork features hanging sculptural metalwork forms that draw inspiration from botanical, real, and fantastic worlds. These shapes hang suspended, creating an intricate canopy that interacts dynamically with light. By day, natural light filters through the forms, casting shifting shadows that mimic the roots of trees or the delicate tracery of leaves. By night, specialised lighting elements cast dramatic silhouettes, ensuring that the visual experience changes constantly depending on the time of day and the viewer’s perspective.
Adding another layer of depth is the auditory component. Jumaadi collaborated with composer Michael Toisuta to create a unique soundscape based on sun and moon cycles. This audio element envelops visitors, enhancing the magical atmosphere and reinforcing the work’s connection to natural rhythms.
Inspired by Myth, Memory, and Heritage
Born in Indonesia and migrating to Australia in the 1990s, Jumaadi draws heavily on his personal history and cultural background. His practice, which spans painting, performance, and installation, is deeply influenced by wayang kulit—the traditional shadow-puppet plays of Java and Bali.
Upside-Down Garden continues his exploration of light and shadow, using these elements to tell stories of displacement, love, and the human experience.
“My work is about questioning the hierarchy between human and nature,” Jumaadi explains. “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.”
The result is a collection of hybrid forms that feel both familiar and strange, evoking a sense of wonder and encouraging onlookers to find their own narratives within the shadows.
A Collaborative Curatorial Vision
The artwork was commissioned by Lendlease in partnership with Infrastructure NSW and curated by Glenn Barkley and Holly Williams. The curators worked closely with Jumaadi to bring his vision to a grand public scale.
“We’re delighted to have worked with Jumaadi for his first public artwork, creating a fantastical world of colourful sculptures to enliven Barangaroo South,” said curators Glenn Barkley and Holly Williams.
They highlight the dynamic nature of the piece: “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.”
Enriching Barangaroo’s Cultural Fabric
This installation is a key component of the broader Barangaroo Public Art and Cultural Contribution by Lendlease, a commitment exceeding $40 million. It joins a prestigious collection of permanent artworks in the precinct, including Shellwall by Esme Timbery with Jonathan Jones and Shadows by Sabine Hornig.
These works are delivered under a joint Public Art and Cultural Plan between the NSW Government and Lendlease. The goal is to create a strategic framework that guides the commissioning of art that shapes the identity of the precinct.
Dan Baxter, Executive Director Development NSW/ACT at Lendlease, emphasised the role of public art in placemaking. “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,” he said. “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.”
Simon Mordant AO, Chair of the Lendlease Arts and Cultural Panel, echoed these sentiments, calling the installation a “defining moment” for the area. “This commission further enriches Barangaroo with a work that speaks to the precinct’s evolving identity and its connection to nature and culture,” Mordant noted. “Jumaadi’s Upside-Down Garden captivates audiences with its interplay of light, shadow, and sound, creating a space of wonder and imagination.”
Experience the Magic
For those looking to experience this intersection of art, sound, and shadow, Upside-Down Garden is now on permanent public display at Barangaroo South. Whether you visit under the midday sun to see the shadows dance or arrive in the evening to hear the atmospheric soundscape, Jumaadi’s work promises a moment of reflection and discovery in the heart of Sydney.