Ritual and Spectacle, Allianz Stadium Public Art Program – Cultural Capital

Ritual and Spectacle, Allianz Stadium Public Art Program

“Art and sport have that rare capacity to foster greater understanding and tolerance within our communities.”

Felicity Fenner, Chair of the City of Sydney Public Art Advisory Panel

RITUAL (noun)
A set of fixed actions and sometimes words performed regularly, especially as part of a ceremony.

SPECTACLE (noun)
A public event or show that is exciting to watch.

‘Ritual and Spectacle’ was conceived as a collection of works; each purposeful, considered, and in relationship to others. Allianz Stadium’s enduring and distinctive qualities, its history, cultural traditions, built and natural environments are the narrative threads that weave through the artwork commissions. Collectively they celebrate the site’s ecological, Aboriginal, European and sporting histories. The collection positions the Allianz Stadium Public Art Program as a community asset that will become much-loved over time. It creates opportunities for engagement with art outside of large events, day and night — physically, aurally, visually.

– Bethan Donnelly, Project Lead and Curator

Cultural Capital was engaged to curate and deliver a public art program for the Allianz Stadium. Cultural Capital developed the program in consultation with the design and construction teams, City of Sydney Public Art Unit, Metropolitan and La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Councils, and an Art Advisory Panel made up of the project’s key stakeholders.

The art program presents an ambitious collection of works responding to the theme ‘Ritual and Spectacle’, featuring local Indigenous stories and place-based narratives.

The program features artist-designed stadium seats by Tony Albert, a sculpture commission from Dinni Kemarre Kunoth, a sports surface by Dennis Golding, an Acknowledgement of Country animation by Carmen Glynn-Braun and Marilyn Russell, a wind screen featuring the artwork of Gary Carsley, and an immersive sound installation by Tina Havelock Stevens.

Photography by Josh Raymond and courtesy of Infrastructure NSW.

Tony Albert, Two Worlds Colliding: Land & Water

Two Worlds Colliding: Water & Land by Tony Albert is an integrated artwork for the Allianz Stadium that uses the stadium seats as a canvas for a large-format Aboriginal artwork.

Each end of the stadium is separated and distinguished by two different designs symbolising land and water – the land through geometric diamond designs taken from nature, and the bubble of concentric circles for water. The abstract land and water designs create an element of friendly yet fierce competition.

The design of the large stadium wings is based on a typographical map of Country from the local area surrounding SFS, embedding the idea of Country in the stadium. Attention is given to the Indigenous context of the land, the natural environment, and to the architecture. The design takes into consideration the numerous sightlines and entrances to the stadium.

Carmen Glynn-Braun & Marilyn Russell, Buri Buri's Song

Buri Buri’s Song is a visual Acknowledgement of Country animation. The master of the seas, Buri Buri (Whale) is the ancestral being to the Bidjigal people. Fish and sea life can be seen to thrive in Buri Buri’s waters. The artists had not worked with animation before and Cultural Capital supported them to transform their drawings into moving image.

Within this vibrant eco system, Buri Buri leads the flow of the fish, the people and the water according to his rhythm. Buri Buri brings with him the changes of the seasons as he passes through the Bidjigal shores.

Throughout generations fisherman awaited Buri Buri’s seasonal arrival and with it the delivery of fish and the abundant flow of the sea.

This video artwork will play on the screens inside the stadium and serves as a reminder of the importance of Aboriginal culture and the ongoing cultural practices of local Saltwater people.

Carmen Glynn-Braun’s & Marilyn Russell’s collaboration on Buri Buri represents a local, Indigenous, intergenerational, female perspective. The soundtrack tells the story of ‘Buri Buri’ as told by Marilyn Russell.

Dinni Kunoth Kemarre, One big mob, all mixed up

Sport is a language and culture in itself and one shared by many regardless of background, colour or wealth. It is the common ground, the level playing field, where there should be no colour, religion or class. It is a tool to break down social and cultural barriers on and off the field.

Sport has a way of creating community and tying all those involved to it. These communities are born from a common goal, working together to achieve victory. Clubs generally include teams of all ages, genders and abilities, truly encompassing the notion of ‘inclusiveness and diversity’.

Dinni’s intention is to represent an Australia that is blended, multicultural, and all inclusive. Visitors of all backgrounds and ethnicities come together at the stadium and surround the sculpture adding to its presence, representing a true Australia, “all together, all mixed up”.

Tina Havelock Stevens, Hear, Here (A Sonic Story)

For more than a century, Tree 125 has been a part of the Country that sustains it and an arena in its own right. In Indigenous culture the Moreton Bay Fig is an embodiment of the Yaroma story, the Hairy Man, a wild and passionate force. This artwork weaves an audio journey in homage to this tree. Through speakers embedded in the seating around Tree 125, passers-by will be drawn into the immersive work – powerful and exhilarating, transcendent and meditative.

Central to the sonic landscape is a solo drum performance by Tina Havelock Stevens recorded in the stadium. Weaving in and out of this central driving performance are integral sonic threads that speak to moments in this site’s history. Acclaimed Indigenous composer and performer William Barton will respond on site at Lachlan Swamp in Centennial Park with his powerful vocalising.

Other elements include recordings from Indigenous athletes and women’s football matches; to recordings of the Marching Band from Victoria Barracks.

Gary Carsley, D.134 (XANTHORRHOEA ARBOREA)

D.134 (XANTHORRHOEA ARBOREA) celebrates the Xanthorrhoea tree. The Xanthorrhoea will be presented to show the full arc cyclical change, acknowledging the seasons.

The Xanthorrhoea is culturally significant to the Gadigal. Xanthorrhoea is also known as the ‘Gadi’ tree and is where the Gadigal people of Sydney derive their name. Extensive First Nations engagement was undertaken in the process of creating the work.

The image of the Xanthorrhoea tree was created from a bespoke palette of photos of various wood and other timber veneers associated with SCG precinct. The swatches of timber used in the creation of the palette include those from the historically resonant areas of the Members and Ladies Pavilion as well as those used in the construction of the new SFS provided by local manufacturers.

Selected flower spears of the Xanthorrhoea trees contain a QR code with stories about the deep connections the Moore Park precinct has to some of Sydney’s most important social and cultural memories.

Dennis Golding, From here we grow

From here we grow transforms the ground plane surface of the Sports and Community Precinct into a culturally vibrant experience.

The concept explores the memory of both culture and the landscape through storylines of contemporary life and history.

The design includes figures of a hand, foot, sports balls and Xanthorrhoea (grass plant) within the formation of land pathways, sea currents, river streams and waterholes.

During the creative process, the artist engaged with the local Aboriginal community, including former Australian netball and rugby representatives.

Awards for Allianz Stadium

Winner, 2024 Lloyd Rees Award for Urban Design, NSW Architecture Awards for Urban Design

Winner, 2025 Rider Levett Bucknall State Development of the Year, Property Council of Australia’s Innovation and Excellence Awards

Sydney, NSW

Infrastructure for NSW

Allianz Stadium

Tony Albert, Carmen Glynn-Braun and Marilyn Russell, Gary Carsley, Dinni Kunoth Kemarre, Dennis Golding, Tina Havelock Stevens

2022

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