Alison Page

On the corner of Castlereagh and Market Streets, the former David Jones building has entered a new phase of its life. Across this landmark site, Dharawal and Yuin artist Alison Page has created Dreaming of the Ancestors - a series of five works that finds Country, and its memories and stories, within the fabric of the modern city.

For 111 & 121 Castlereagh Street, Cbus Property and Scentre Group engaged UAP to shape and lead the entire public art program: to set its curatorial direction, find the right artist, tell the story of the site, and carry the work through to installation.

That leadership began with strategy. Our curatorial team authored the public art plan for the site, developed its guiding vision - Reawakening Place and Time, with the themes of Light, Memory and Reveal - and identified where art could live across the development. We ran a limited concept design competition to select the artist, steered the program through the City of Sydney's planning and approvals, and worked alongside architects fjcstudio to integrate the work into the building. Alison Page was awarded the commission and responded to the vision with five distinct works.

At the centre is Ngura - the Dharawal word for home. This cast bronze map locates the site within the wider cultural landscape of Gadi Country, reaching across the harbour to Hyde Park, Memel (Goat Island), Barangaroo, Warrane (Circular Quay), Tubowgule (Bennelong Point) and Tumbalong (Darling Harbour). More than a map, it is stratigraphic, chronological and spiritual - holding the energy, memory and survival of the Dharawal people, connected by songlines that still run through the city.

Suspended overhead, Gaarmawulawala - ‘collection of dilly bags’ - is a series of six cast bronze baskets, woven as if by the Ancestors and carrying the energy of journeys out on Country. Each basket varies in height from 0.7 metres to 1.2 metres and weighs up to 96kg. its weave curves to meet its neighbours so the group reads as one, catching and holding the light. Nearby, Djal Dreaming holds a culturally significant material - kept secret to preserve its potency - inside a blown-glass vessel, where it has reacted to form swirling lines of energy: a microcosm of Country held in glass.

Two further works carry the themes of light and connection. Gurabangbulawala - ‘stones’ — are guiding lights that illuminate the dark so residents find their way home, holding the glow of a million campfires. And Muruwulawala - ‘tracks’ - are the threads that connect land, sea and sky, laid down by the Ancestors and activated as people move through Country, carrying knowledge, story and song between generations.

UAP managed the fabrication of all five artworks. The cast bronze wall and ‘tracks’ was made at UAP's Brisbane foundry, where our team worked closely with the artist through technical design, engineering, pattern-making, sand-moulding, casting, fettling, finishing and patina before installing them on site. The bronze wall measures 4.9 m (W) x 3.5 m (H) and 1.6 m (W) x 3.5 m (H).

The blown-glass works were made through Canberra Glassworks, engaged and managed by UAP, where Alison Page worked alongside their team to create the custom blown-glass elements. Culture and heritage advice for Ngura was provided by Rowena Welsh-Jarrett (Dharawal/Gumbaynggirr) and Dr Paul Irish, with language advice from the Gujaga Foundation.

Together, Dreaming of the Ancestors reawakens place and time on one of Sydney's most historic corners - a reminder that this land is, was and always will be Gadi Ngura.