Forgotten Songs

Forgotten Songs, in Sydney

Forgotten Songs is a poetic work of art of Sydney, made of suspended birdcages from which escapes a song of vanished birds. The Sydney audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this installation by Michael Thomas Hill, nestled in the Angel Place lane.

The cages and the song of the vanished birds

Along the Angel Place lane, you must raise the head and prick up the ear to appreciate this work of art by Michael Thomas Hill. Installed in 2009, it is composed of dozens of empty birdcages, suspended in the air above the lane, from which escape the recorded songs of birds. But these songs are not insignificant: they are those of the species of birds that formerly peopled this sector of the centre of Sydney, before urbanization and the construction of the town drove them from it. The work thus evokes with poetry and melancholy the vanished nature, covered by the town, and invites to a reflection on the impact of man on his environment. The empty cages symbolise the absence of the birds, while their songs, that still resound, perpetuate the memory of them. This discreet and touching installation, which surprises the attentive walker, is one of the hidden treasures of the town. A poetic work and a place of memory, Forgotten Songs is an astonishing stop of the discovery of Sydney.

What to see

Here you discover, by raising the head in the Angel Place lane, the work by Michael Thomas Hill installed in 2009: dozens of empty birdcages suspended from which escape the recorded songs of the species that formerly peopled the centre of Sydney before urbanization, evoking with poetry the vanished nature and inviting to reflection. Forgotten Songs is a poetic work of Sydney. It is an astonishing stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

Forgotten Songs is in the Angel Place lane, in the heart of the City of Sydney, reachable on foot. It is an open-air work, freely accessible. You must raise the head and prick up the ear to appreciate its suspended cages and the songs of birds.

What does the work Forgotten Songs represent in Sydney?

This installation by Michael Thomas Hill, made of dozens of empty birdcages suspended in the Angel Place lane, broadcasts the recorded songs of the species of birds that formerly peopled the centre of Sydney before urbanization, evoking with poetry the vanished nature.

Where is Forgotten Songs in Sydney?

In the Angel Place lane, in the heart of the City of Sydney, in Australia.