Badu Gili Healing Spirit Lighting of the Sails
From 13 Dec
Monumental Steps and Podium Level
Experiences
Badu Gili - meaning ‘water light’ in the language of the traditional owners of Bennelong Point, the Gadigal - is a free daily experience that explores First Nations stories in a spectacular six-minute projection on the Opera House’s eastern Bennelong sails.
Watch the sails illuminate with Badu Gili: Healing Spirit, a new projection celebrating the work and stories of local and international First Nations artists, created in collaboration between the Opera House, Biennale of Sydney and the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.
Badu Gili: Healing Spirit will light the eastern Bennelong sails from 13 December 2024.
Screenings from sunset, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm and 10.30pm unless otherwise advised.
Date | Lighting times |
13 Dec | Badu Gili: LIVE from 7pm |
14 Dec | 8.30pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
15 Dec | 8.31pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
16 Dec | 8.31pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
17 Dec | 8.32pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
18 Dec | 8.33pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
19 Dec | 8.33pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
20 Dec | 8.34pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
21 Dec | 8.34pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
22 Dec | 8.35pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
23 Dec | 8.35pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
24 Dec | 8.36pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
25 Dec | No screenings |
26 Dec | 8.36pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
27 Dec | 8.37pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
28 Dec | 8.37pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
29 Dec | 8.37pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
30 Dec | No screenings |
31 Dec | No screenings |
Date | Lighting times |
1 Jan | 8.38pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
2 Jan | 8.38pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
3 Jan | 8.38pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
4 Jan | 8.38pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
5 Jan | 8.38pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
6 Jan | 8.38pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
7 Jan | 8.38pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
8 Jan | 8.38pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
9 Jan | 8.38pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
10 Jan | 8.38pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
11 Jan | 8.38pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
12 Jan | 8.37pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
13 Jan | 8.37pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
14 Jan | 8.37pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
15 Jan | 8.37pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
16 Jan | 8.36pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
17 Jan | 8.36pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
18 Jan | 8.36pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
19 Jan | 8.35pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
20 Jan | 8.35pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
21 Jan | 8.34pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
22 Jan | 8.34pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
23 Jan | 8.33pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
24 Jan | 8.33pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
25 Jan | 8.32pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
26 Jan | 8.31pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
27 Jan | 8.31pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
28 Jan | 8.30pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
29 Jan | 8.29pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
30 Jan | 8.28pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
31 Jan | 8.28pm, 9pm, 9.30pm, 10pm, 10.30pm |
Badu Gili: Healing Spirit is a free event for everyone to enjoy.
Wheelchair accessible
Find out more information about accessibility at Sydney Opera House
Run time
Projection runs for approximately 6 minutes.
Event duration is a guide only and may be subject to change.
Age
Suitable for all ages.
Young people under the age of 15 must be accompanied at all times.
The Opera House is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children that visit or engage with us. Read our Child Safety Policy(link is external, opens in new tab or window)
Viewing
Best viewed on the Podium, located at the top of the Monumental Steps.
Viewing location map here.
Sound
VANDAL Sound Engineer: Nigel Crowley
Composer: James Henry
Shamanic Chants: Hutukara Yanomami Association and Marcos Wesley de Oliveira
Old Rugged Cross by George Bennard licensed through CopyCare
Buri Buri Song by Raymond Ingrey recorded by Gamay Dancers
Projection
VANDAL
Creative Director - Chris Scott
Executive Producer - Melissa Lee
Producer - Alice Robinson
Art Director and Lead Animator - Anna Fraser
VFX Supervisor - Joseph Pole
3D Artist - Tim Clapham
3D Artist - William McNamara
2D Artist - Sam Hoh
Useful information:
FREE EVENT
Badu Gili LIVE
7pm, 13 December 2024
Join us on the Podium from 7pm on 13 December for a free experience to kick off Badu Gili: Healing Spirit, our new nightly sails projection. Badu Gili LIVE celebrates First Nations culture through music, food, art and storytelling. Enjoy First Nations inspired food and drink and a live musical performance by PIRRITU, a proud Ngiyampaa man whose melodic folk music reflects his journey to reconnect with land, language, and family.
Celebrating First Nations culture
As a celebration of the rich history and contemporary vibrancy of Australia’s First Nations culture, Badu Gili continues the traditions of Bennelong Point, formerly known as Tubowgule (where the knowledge waters meet), a gathering place for community, ceremony and storytelling for thousands of years.
Badu Gili: Healing Spirit illuminates the eastern Bennelong sails with a dynamic projection displaying the works of celebrated First Nations artists, the late Bidjigal elder Esme Timbery and her children Marilyn Russell and Steven Russell, and artist Joseca Mokahesi Yanomami of the Yanomami people in the Amazon.
Inspired by shellwork crafted by Esme Timbery and Marilyn Russell, prints and weavings by Steven Russell, and Joseca Mokahesi Yanomami's drawings of the spirits and landscapes of the remote Yanomami forest, the new six-minute digital animation explores rituals and the bonds of cultural and familial connection forged through art and storytelling.
An important pillar of the Opera House’s year-round First Nations program, Badu Gili is an essential Sydney cultural experience for both visitors and the local community that aims to foster and celebrate a shared sense of belonging for all Australians.
Read the Sydney Opera House Reconciliation Action Plan.
Badu Gili is presented in collaboration with the Biennale of Sydney and the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
Meet the artists
Esme Timbery
Bidjigal elder and senior artist Esme Timbery is recognised for her decorative shelled models and objects that range from depictions of Sydney attractions to small slippers, frames and boxes. Continuing the shellwork tradition associated with the Aboriginal community of the south-eastern Sydney suburb of La Perouse, Timbery’s works embody an enduring connection to Country, linking a long-established craft to the changing geography and cultural reality of contemporary Sydney.
Marilyn Russell
Continuing an artistic and family tradition Marilyn Russell’s shellworks are a testament to the legacy of her mother, Esme Timbery, as well as that of the Bidjigal people. Living and working in La Perouse Marilyn learnt shellwork from her mother Esme, who learnt from her mother Queen Emma Timbery before that. Marilyn’s work, which is both a connection to the past as well as a process of healing, is held in multiple gallery collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
Steven Russell
Steven Russell, a Bidjigal, Dharawal and Wadi Wadi drawer, painter and weaver, was born at La Perouse Mission on the shores of Kamay (Botany Bay), Sydney. The son of Bidjigal elder and senior artist Esme Timbery, Steven’s work is deeply connected to Country and is held in multiple gallery collections including the Wollongong Art Gallery. Along with his wife Phyllis Stewart, and their daughter Kristine, Steven is a founding member of the Jungah Weavers, a Master Weaver collective based out of Gerringong, NSW.
Joseca Mokahesi Yanomami
Joseca Mokahesi Yanomami was born in 1971 in the Brazilian Amazon. Son of a shaman, Joseca shares the ancestral knowledge and cosmology of the Yanomami through his drawings – embodying the ancient times and multiple dimensions of the Yanomani land and forest. Shamanic rituals, which communicate between humans and the “xapiri” (spirits), are central themes in his work.
Image: OR-MOK-8631 © Lewis Mirrett
Plan your visit
Badu Gili is projected on the eastern Bennelong sails and is best viewed from the Podium, at the top of the Monumental Steps. Please see location map here.
Getting here
The Sydney Opera House Car Park, operated by Wilson Parking, is open and available to use. Wilson Parking offer discounted parking if you book ahead. Please see the Wilson Parking website for details.
Please check the Transport NSW website for the latest advice and information on travel. You can catch public transport (bus, train, ferry) to Circular Quay and enjoy a six minute walk to the Opera House.
Frequently asked questions
No. When you arrive at the Opera House, make your way up the Monumental Steps to the Podium where you will enjoy the best view of the sunset projection.
Yes - we encourage everyone to capture this special experience. If you post on social media, please tag #BaduGili or #BaduGiliCelestial to share your photos or video with us.
It’s a great idea to arrive early, grab a drink and soak up the view.
Please note sunset varies each day so be sure to check sunset times on the day.
Badu Gili is an outdoor event, during winter we recommend dressing warmly.
You can enjoy one of the many restaurants and bars here at the Opera House. Our restaurants offer everything from casual snacks to award-winning fine dining. Find what you’re after, see our restaurants.
Please check with our staff when you arrive.
The projections will run as scheduled all year round, and will go ahead in wet weather.
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