Experiences
17 Dec 2025 – 8 Dec 2026
Badu Gili: Story Keepers
Badu Gili - meaning ‘water light’ in the language of the traditional owners of Bennelong Point, the Gadigal - is a free nightly experience that explores First Nations stories in a spectacular six-minute projection on the Opera House’s eastern Bennelong sails.
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Stream, read & listen
Badu Gili’s Frances Belle Parker
Ten thousand pegs washed in plaster form the shape of an island across a gallery floor. On each peg, the words ‘Ulgundahi Island’ are handwritten then hidden. As time goes on, the plaster is designed to flake off and reveal the name of the island the artwork takes its form from.
Lighting of the Sails 2023: Life Enlivened by John Olsen and Curiious
We farewelled one of Australia’s most admired artists, Dr John Olsen AO OBE. We proudly paid tribute to Olsen’s extraordinary six-decade career in Lighting of the Sails: Life Enlivened when his works were animated and projected on the Opera House sails for Vivid Sydney in 2023.
The inside story of Olsen’s celebrated Opera House mural
The story went like this. It was a Saturday night. There was much jollity. They heard there was a party that night in Mosman, so they all went down to the ferry. Joe Lynch, the cartoonist, was with them. It had been a rainy day and Joe had two bottles of beer in each pocket of his overcoat. And so they all got on to the ferry and then, when they were near what is now the Opera House, a big liner passed by, the ferry jostled in the turbulence, and after a while someone said: ‘Where’s Joe?’ Joe had fallen overboard, anchored down by those bottles of beer. A true Australian death.
