TONY ALBERT | Hyde Park Memorial Commission
Yininmadyemi - Thou didst let fall
Tony Albert has been awarded a major new commission with his Yininmadyemi - Thou didst let fall to stand in Sydney's Hyde Park as a monument to honour the sacrifices and bravery of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service men and women.
Albert's powerful sculpture will feature four seven-metre tall, oversized bullets standing among three large-scale fallen shells. "I have chosen the very confronting image of the bullet as it is a universal signifier for conflict," says Albert "and I have chosen to arrange the bullets with some standing and some fallen over, to tell a story.”
The artist's grandfather, Eddie Albert, proudly served abroad during WWI. As an Aboriginal man, however, at the end of the war, while his fellow soldiers were given land for their service, not only did he not receive any land, his land was still being taken away.
"Our men and women defended our country, they were prepared to fall. Upon returning to our country, they were left to fall again – yininmadyemi, thou didst let fall".
This remarkable monument is the first of its kind in the city of Sydney.
Learn more about the commission here.
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