Vigil, Sydney Festival, 2025
“Vigil: Truths is a large-scale gathering that focuses on being heard, sharing knowledges and presenting First Nations visions for the future. At its core is the act of listening — listening to the many voices that will resonate across the land and waters on this night.
Leading up to the evening of Vigil is three weeks of events and activities at the Barangaroo site, known as Vigil:Gunyah, a gathering space that is led, curated and designed by and for First Nations people, communities and allies.”
Photo: Juan Pablo Pinto
“It’s a soft space. It’s not about a four-walled building and a proscenium arch. It’s settled in Country.”
- Jake Nash, describing the Vigil: Gunyah space (Sydney Morning Herald)
Prefabrication
Constructed off-site over months by a group of Sydney architecture students and other Sydneysiders who responded to Cave Urban’s call to ‘come build with us’, the project brought people together to discover and learn well before its assembly and opening at Sydney Festival.
Photo: Erin Zikos
Photo: Suki Fong
Photo: Alicia Mardones
Bamboo Harvesting at Peats Ridge. Photo: Katie Hubbard
Bamboo Column Prototype. Photo: Nici Long
Prefabricating Bamboo Columns. Photo: Jed Long
Photo: Juan Pablo Pinto
Photo: Juan Pablo Pinto
Client: Sydney Festival
Location: Walumil Lawns, Barangaroo, Sydney
Lead Design: Juan Pablo Pinto
Team: Nici Long, Jed Long, Mercurio Alvarado, Maeve Corke Butters, Erin Zikos, May Baker, Hamish Shorrocks, Taya Solomon, Honey Long, Prue Stent
Engineering: Event Engineering
Rigging: Spidermonkey Constructions
Photo: Juan Pablo Pinto
Photo: Maeve Corke Butters
Photo: Juan Pablo Pinto
Thank you to our wonderful volunteers:
Harvest
Alexia Dermatis
Alfredo Santos Ramírez
Alicia Mardones
Angela Ha
Ashleigh Williams
Atheer Albokhari
Audrey See
Bethany Chamberlain
Célia Lesigne
Dena Rubinstein
Emma Cao
Federico Riches
Isabella Massa
Juliet Nelson
Katie Hubbard
Kevin Zhen
Krishna Patil
Meiling Kwok
Mia Margolis
Nejala Janiola
Pete Deards
Sarah Ong
Sheen Parimoo
Suki Fong
Ting Ting Mabel Loon
Tiresi Kirby
Yuting Zhang
Prefab
Alicia Mardones
Alicia Wong
Alta Lin
Annie Boman
Ariel Eisner
Arya Shah
Ashleigh Williams
Charu Kukreja
Christopher Papaioannou
Elise Beldoza
Emily Catlow
Fatima Harun
Isabella Zhou
Kaylin Wambui
Kevin Zhen
Krishna Patil
Nejala Janiola
Rasa Esfahani
Sarah Ong
Sheen Parimoo
Sirintra Sriwattanavanit
Soli Deo Glory
Suki Fong
Ting Ting Mabel Loon
Tomas Langley
Tyrra Sandberg
Yuting Zhang
Zoe Pan
Install
Alicia Mardones
Annie Boman
Ashleigh Williams
Charu Kukerja
Christopher Papaioannou
Kevin Zhen
Monica Ulibarri
Sarah Ong
Tyrra Sandberg
Yuting Zhang