Internationally acclaimed British Indian artist Bharti Kher has been commissioned to create a seven metre bronze sculpture for Powerhouse Parramatta, adding a major new public artwork to the museum precinct as it prepares to open in Western Sydney.
The sculpture, titled Tree of Life, draws on one of the oldest symbols in Indian mythology. In Hindu tradition, the sacred tree is described as a conscious being that offers protection, an idea Kher has reinterpreted through a contemporary lens to explore ancestry, memory and humanity’s relationship with the natural world.
Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Philip Green, highlighted the commission on social media, describing the work as being inspired by Indian mythology and centred on “memory, ancestry and the enduring bond between nature and humanity”.
Kher said the sculpture reflects the role she sees for both the artwork and the new cultural institution.
“Just as Powerhouse Parramatta serves first and foremost as a meeting place, both harkening to the site’s past where the mountain and coastal people communed and also as a modern day cultural hub for Sydneysiders of all backgrounds, Tree of Life embodies an artistic message of commonality and an ode to nature,” she said.
Standing seven metres tall, the bronze sculpture has been conceived as what Kher describes as a “spirit work” rather than a narrative piece. Within its form are layered representations of ancestral figures, intended to reflect how families preserve histories and memories while adapting across generations.
The commission has also been designed to complement the architecture of the new Powerhouse Parramatta building. The museum’s biomimicry inspired exterior references connections between the built environment and nature, while Kher says the sculpture extends those ideas by linking collective human memory with the natural world.
She described the work as representing “a bond of unity” and an Axis Mundi, a symbolic connection between the living and spiritual worlds that acknowledges humanity’s place within nature and the stories that emerge from it.
Powerhouse says the sculpture will become a landmark within the museum precinct, positioned as a defining public artwork for the new institution in the heart of Parramatta.
Development of the commission included community consultation in 2023 involving local residents, representatives from the City of Parramatta, Create NSW, the Centre for Australia-India Relations, creative industries and members of the Indian business community.
During those sessions, Kher presented her artistic practice and the concept behind Tree of Life. Participants discussed the role public art could play in engaging Western Sydney’s growing Indian community. According to Powerhouse, residents with Indian ancestry make up the fourth largest ancestry group in the City of Parramatta, making the project particularly relevant to the area’s changing cultural landscape.
The consultation process also reflects a wider trend among major cultural institutions towards involving communities during the development of large scale public artworks, particularly when projects draw on cultural traditions with strong local connections.
Kher has built an international reputation for work that explores identity, mythology, transformation and cultural symbolism. Her practice spans sculpture, painting and installation, and her works have been exhibited in museums and galleries across Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.
Among the recurring materials in her work is the bindi, the decorative mark traditionally worn on the forehead by many Indian women. While it is often associated with marriage or viewed as a fashion accessory outside India, Kher has explained that the bindi traditionally represents a “third eye”, linking the physical and spiritual worlds.
Rather than using bindis as decorative motifs, she treats them as an artistic material comparable to paint or clay, allowing them to carry cultural associations while taking on new meanings within contemporary artworks.
Although bindis do not feature as the central element of Tree of Life, the themes they represent continue throughout the sculpture. Memory, spirituality and cultural continuity remain central to Kher’s practice, with the new commission bringing those ideas into a public setting accessible to visitors from a wide range of backgrounds.
The project also reflects growing cultural links between Australia and India, with artistic collaborations becoming increasingly visible alongside expanding educational, business and diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Powerhouse Parramatta is expected to become one of Australia’s largest museum projects when it opens, with public art commissions forming part of its broader vision to integrate architecture, history and contemporary creative practice.
Once installed, Tree of Life will stand as a permanent feature of the precinct, offering visitors an interpretation of an ancient symbol through the perspective of one of contemporary art’s leading voices.
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