Near Kin Kin

Installed from 18 September 2015 to 10 October 2015
A tall, pointed bamboo sculpture stands in Customs House Square surrounded by people. Nearby are tables, umbrellas, and trees. A bridge is visible in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

A soaring 21m bamboo sculpture in the heart of the city centre.

Artist: Cave Urban
This artwork was temporary and is no longer at this location.

Artwork description

Step into a world of towering bamboo, as the forest returns to downtown Sydney in Near Kin Kin. This breathtaking sculpture by Cave Urban draws its name, inspiration and organic materials from a humble hillside farm outside of Kin Kin, Queensland, where prodigious stands of bamboo invoke awe in anyone who stands beneath them.

Viewed from the outside, the sculpture gives pause to reflect on the forests that stood here for millennia, in contrast with the rise and domination of the built environment that began in Sydney Cove with the first felling of trees in 1788.

Venturing inside Near Kin Kin, visitors are transported to a wilder place and time as they step onto a leafy forest floor and gaze upward to the soaring bamboo. 

Near Kin Kin is a powerful moment to reflect on the many layers of Sydney Cove’s history, both visible and invisible.

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