Sea Place on Country will transform La Perouse Headland on 5–6 June 2026 with projection art, film, music and First Nations storytelling by the sea.
As winter settles across Sydney’s coastline, the winds sweeping over Kamay Botany Bay will carry more than the scent of salt and seaweed. At La Perouse Headland, one of the city’s most historically and culturally significant coastal landscapes, stories will emerge after dark through light, sound and gathering.
On Friday 5 June and Saturday 6 June 2026, Sea Place on Country will invite Sydneysiders to experience a two-night celebration of First Nations culture, creativity and connection. Presented by Randwick City Council, the free event will transform the headland into an immersive cultural space where contemporary art, community storytelling and enduring relationships with Sea Country will meet beneath the stars.
Set against the vast sweep of Kamay Botany Bay, the event will unfold not as a traditional festival but as a shared cultural experience shaped by the voices of the La Perouse Aboriginal community themselves.
Sea Place On Country and the Landscape of La Perouse
Few places in Sydney carry the layers of history found at La Perouse. Perched on the edge of Botany Bay, the headland has long been a place of movement, encounter and connection. The sea remains a constant presence here, shaping daily life and cultural traditions that continue today.
During Sea Place on Country, visitors will be encouraged to slow down and engage with the landscape in a different way. As daylight fades, pathways and gathering spaces across the headland will become stages for storytelling and artistic expression.
The setting itself is central to the experience. Rather than separating art from place, the program will draw directly from the environment, highlighting the continuing relationship between people, culture and Sea Country.
As darkness settles across the bay, the familiar contours of the coastline will take on new meaning through projected imagery, music and shared stories.
Illuminating Stories Through Art
At the heart of Sea Place on Country will be a large-scale 360-degree projection artwork by artist Shane Youngberry.
The historic Macquarie Watchtower will become a canvas for moving images and storytelling, creating a striking focal point visible across the headland. Against the stone structure, contemporary digital art will illuminate stories connected to Country, community and culture.
The effect is expected to be both intimate and expansive. While the projection will command attention from afar, its deeper significance will come from the stories embedded within it — stories told in the first person by members of the La Perouse community.
In a city where public art often competes with urban noise, the headland setting will allow the work to breathe, framed by open sky, ocean horizons and the rhythm of the nearby waves.
Sea Place On Country Through Film and Exhibition
Beyond the outdoor installations, visitors will find opportunities to explore local stories through film and exhibition.
Screenings of the newly created documentary The Mullet Run will take place on the lawn of the La Perouse Museum. The community-led film explores the enduring relationship between First Nations peoples and Sea Country while reflecting on culture, family and community connections that continue across generations.
Inside the museum, three exhibitions will offer different perspectives on place and history.
LA+ 001, created by Dr Peter McKenzie and Brenda Croft, will present photographic works spanning more than six decades of life within the La Perouse Aboriginal community. Together, the images form a visual record of resilience, identity and everyday experience.
In Contaminated: Site 3, artist Norton Fredericks will examine environmental impacts on land and waterways through the combined lenses of contemporary art and science.
Meanwhile, Edge of the Earth by Anna Mould will explore historical European ideas surrounding Terra Australis Incognita, the imagined southern continent that occupied maps and imaginations long before colonisation.
Viewed together, the exhibitions will create a layered conversation between past and present, memory and landscape.
Gathering After Dark
While storytelling and art sit at the centre of the program, Sea Place on Country will also embrace the simple pleasure of gathering outdoors on a winter evening.
Across both nights, visitors will find live music, DJs, food trucks, fire pits and a licensed bar scattered throughout the site. The atmosphere is expected to feel relaxed rather than hurried, allowing people to move between installations, performances and conversations at their own pace.
Friday evening will begin with a formal Welcome to Country, followed by remarks from participating artists and representatives before the official exhibition launch.
Saturday will extend the experience into a full day-to-night community celebration. Beginning at 3.30pm, the afternoon program will include a free community barbecue and bingo before the evening's cultural presentations, screenings and performances continue.
The expanded Saturday schedule will provide families and visitors additional time to engage with the site and its stories before darkness transforms the headland once again.
Event Details
Event: Sea Place on Country
Dates: Friday 5 June and Saturday 6 June 2026
Times: Friday 5.30pm–9.00pm | Saturday 3.30pm–9.00pm
Location: La Perouse Headland, La Perouse, Sydney NSW
Cost: Free
Official Website: https://www.randwick.nsw.gov.au/community/whats-on/major-events/sea-place-on-country