The Last Resort at Observatory Hill

Overview

Sydney's newest public art installation is best experienced with mates and a picnic lunch, all while appreciating one of the CBD's best harbour views.

Created by acclaimed French-Albanian artist and filmmaker Anri Sala as the 33rd Kaldor Public Art Project in partnership with Art & About Sydney, The Last Resort asks observers to reflect on the landscape from a different perspective. Inviting the audience to relax on Observatory Hill, enjoy a picnic and watch the harbour pass by, the installation is unique to Sydney — it's the first time this artwork has been unveiled, having been created with this very location in mind. Through sculpture and sound, the poetic piece set inside the hill's rotunda features a canopy of 38 snare drums, defying gravity and rhythmically responding to a modified, contemporary version of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A Major. The whole experience is created to reflect and bring to life the relationship between the sights, sounds and history of the city's most elevated point.

The installation has been set up just in time for daylight savings to kick in and give us a chance to enjoy some rays a bit longer on Observatory Hill. What's more, The Lord Nelson at the bottom of the hill is serving up a special picnic menu for the public art's install. Stop by the iconic Sydney pub before heading up the hill to pack your picnic basket with artichoke salad nicoise or roasted pumpkin with beetroot and goat's cheese, pork and fennel burgers, the hearty ploughman's lunch or one of the other delicious savouries on their exclusive takeaway menu. Don't forget dessert — warm homemade apple pie. Forgot your blanket? Not a problem. Kaldor staff are supplying those at Observatory Hill — for free — too.

The Last Resort is a free installation that runs daily from 10am–6pm (Wednesdays until 7.30pm) from October 13 to November 5.

Words: Quinn Connors and Jonathan Ford.