Designed for big ideas: The new building at Barangaroo where size isn’t everything

Under the shadow of Crown Sydney and close to the engineering marvel that is the new Metro station, a far more modest structure appeared in Barangaroo this week.

Built from natural materials including bamboo and tea tree brush, the temporary canopy stands about six metres high and creates an oasis of dappled shade above a simple sand circle.

Part of Sydney Festival, organisers hope Vigil: Gunyah will have a significance that extends beyond its low-key appearance.

“This year, for Barangaroo Headland, we wanted to create a gathering space,” says Jake Nash, curator of the festival’s Blak Out program. “It’s a soft space. It’s not about a four-walled building and a proscenium arch. It’s settled in Country. We’ve got a beautiful sand circle, and it’s just another way for people to engage that’s led by us First Nations people.”

Leading up to January 26, Vigil: Gunyah will host talks, workshops and dance and music performances with the aim of bringing Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together to talk and – crucially – to listen.

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The first dance workshop, led by Brolga Dance Academy’s Tynga Williams, was held earlier this week.

“It was so beautiful to have First Nations people and non-First Nations people sitting down together to do something that’s smaller and with so much meaning,” Nash says. “For me, the idea that we can communicate, connect and do something that’s a little slower for a couple of hours was really beautiful.

“I just sat there and listened to the conversation and observed people. It’s OK to sit in silence and not have to say anything. Just to participate by listening.”