Forgotten Songs, Art installation in Angel Place, Sydney, Australia
Forgotten Songs is an art installation in Angel Place, a narrow laneway in central Sydney, featuring 120 empty birdcages hung overhead. Each cage holds speakers playing recordings of native bird songs that sound continuously throughout the day and night.
The work started in 2009 as a temporary art project and became permanent in 2011 after people in Sydney embraced it. The artist created it to highlight how city growth had displaced native animals from the area.
The installation honors bird species that once filled the center of Sydney before the city expanded. It makes visitors aware of how urbanization changed which animals live downtown and draws attention to their absence from the area.
The best time to visit is early morning when bird calls are most active, or evening to hear nocturnal species. The laneway is always open and free to walk through whenever you pass by the area.
The names of the 50 displaced bird species are carved into the pavement below the cages, visible as you walk through. This hidden detail links the birds' story to the actual ground they once inhabited.
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