Hiromi Tango's Vibrant New Installation Has Transformed Hyde Park Barracks Into a Glowing Canvas of Light and Sound
This powerful new artwork explores personal stories of hope, backdropped by a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Sydney's winter nights just got a whole lot brighter — and more heartfelt — with the arrival of Hope, a luminous, large-scale artwork that's lighting up Hyde Park Barracks right now. It's been brought to life by Japanese-Australian artist Hiromi Tango, and is part of the wider program of satellite events that's popped up around Vivid Sydney.
Hope is an audiovisual projection piece that has transformed the façade of the UNESCO World Heritage site into a glowing beacon of sound and colour, exploring the themes of community and connection. The artwork appears nightly – and it's free to visit, too.
Joshua Morris for Museums of History NSW
Each night until Saturday, June 21, the Macquarie Street building comes alive with a dynamic projection of digital blooms and swirling light. The projections are accompanied by a rich soundscape of recorded voices — people sharing personal stories of hope, as well as stories about the layered histories embedded in the site itself. These reflections, which echo across the courtyard, are interwoven with audio and visual fragments that honour the Barracks' past.
The digital work is accompanied by five large-scale 'hope flowers', as well as a growing garden of hand-crafted blooms. Created through a series of collaborative workshops led by Tango, Hope Garden is a textile-based installation that welcomes visitors at the Barracks gates with flowers made from upcycled materials, each crafted by participants from all walks of life who have depicted their own interpretations of hope. The result is a community-built, constantly evolving landscape that celebrates overlooked voices and shared humanity, and will continue to grow throughout the installation's display time.
Jimmy Murray, Museums of History NSW
Tango has long worked at the intersection of creativity and care, and has become known for her artwork that draw from the worlds of science and mental health. Drawing from her own experiences with neurodivergence and anxiety, Tango's installations and performance pieces often focus on the therapeutic power of art and the art-making process through her collaborations with scientists, health professionals and research institutions.
Mason Dean, Museums of History NSW
Jimmy Murray, Museums of History NSW
Joshua Morris, Museums of History NSW
'Hope' by Hiromi Tango is now showing at Hyde Park Barracks, Macquarie Street, Sydney CBD. You can see it every night until Saturday, June 21. For more information, head to the Museums of History NSW website.
Top image: Joshua Morris for Museums of History NSW.
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