Monuments for Fishes: A New Landmark Arrives on Barangaroo's Harbourside Doorstep
A major new public artwork has been unveiled in Watermans Cove at Barangaroo South, just a short walk from One International Towers. Monuments for Fishes by acclaimed Australian artist Mikala Dwyer is one of the largest floating and kinetic artworks in the world and marks the final commission in Lendlease and Infrastructure NSW's decade long Public Art and Cultural Plan for Barangaroo.
On Your Doorstep
For those working at One International Towers, the artwork is now part of the everyday landscape of the precinct. Whether heading down to Watermans Cove for a lunchtime walk, cutting through on the way to the ferry, or simply looking out from the tower, Monuments for Fishes adds a striking new point of interest to the harbourside routes that connect Barangaroo's workplaces, waterfront and city.
The large-scale work features five sculptural monuments rising up to 23 metres above sea level, inspired by lightweight fishing floats and paying homage to Indigenous fisherwomen. Crafted from carbon fibre, fibreglass and steel, the same materials used to build yachts, the monuments sway with the tides, winds and currents, and catch the changing light across the harbour.
Barangaroo as a Living Gallery
Monuments for Fishes is the latest addition to what has become one of Sydney's most significant public art destinations. Over the past 11 years, the joint NSW Government and Lendlease program has delivered five permanent artworks across Barangaroo, each responding to the site's history and its relationship with the harbour.
These include Shellwall by Esme Timbery with Jonathan Jones (2015), Shadows by Sabine Hornig (2019), Mermer Waiskeder: Stories of the Moving Tide by the Ghost Net Collective (2023) and Upside Down Garden by Jumaadi (2025).
Together with Monuments for Fishes, they form a walkable trail of art that runs through the heart of the precinct, turning everyday routes into moments of discovery for workers, residents and visitors alike.
From Studio to Sea
The artist Mikala Dwyer is known for her work across sculpture and installation, and for her ability to transform everyday objects into bold, large scale forms.
For Dwyer, the monumental grew from the intimate. The piece began with a simple striped fishing float, small enough to hold in her hand, sitting in her studio.
"It started with something you could hold in your hand, a simple fishing float, striped and lightweight, sitting in my studio," Dwyer explains. "Blown up to a grand scale at Watermans Cove, this gathering of buoyant forms becomes a barometer of the harbour's energy cycles. I wanted to pay homage to the fisherwomen who worked these waters, and to the sea life beneath."
Built by a Community, for a Community
Dwyer created the work in collaboration with Event Engineering, drawing on more than 100 Australian specialists to design and build it, including engineers, shipwrights, spray painters, steel welders and machinists. The monuments range in height from 18.6 to 22.6 metres above the waterline and weigh between 13.2 and 16.1 tonnes each.
Lendlease Art Advisory Panel member Nicholas Baume described the piece as an extraordinarily complex creative challenge made to look like a walk on water, transforming the humble fishing float into a vibrant and majestic gathering of playfully bobbing forms.
A Precinct Enriched
The unveiling marks the completion of Lendlease's public art program for Barangaroo, a decade long initiative that has shaped the precinct's identity and its connection to the harbour and its history. For those who live, work and move through Barangaroo, it is a reminder that culture and community are built into the fabric of the place, not added on the side.
