iMuseum of Contemporary Art AustraliaThe Rocks
Ai Weiwei: Neil Balnaves Tallawoladah Lawn Commission 2026
A new large-scale outdoor sculpture commission by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei for the MCA's Tallawoladah Lawn.
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From a distance the 500 cast-iron helmets on Tallawoladah Lawn look identical. Up close, the MCA asks you to look for the differences: each is a one-to-one copy of a 20th-century combat helmet, down to the cushioning inside. Ai Weiwei started from Germany's 2022 gift of 5,000 helmets to Ukraine, which Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko called "an absolute joke".
The helmets sit in ten uniform rows on a raised mesh platform 40 metres long, overlooking the harbour, and you walk through on a central aisle. Ai says the title covers the caps' shape, fungi turning decay into new life, mushroom clouds, and a Chinese sense of endless delays. MCA director Suzanne Cotter told AAP the helmets allude to human skulls.
It's free, needs no ticket and is open 24/7, in front of the MCA at Circular Quay. The MCA says the lawn is wheelchair accessible only for specific events. Its page lists the work until April 2027.
Look for
The central aisle
Walk the path down the middle of the ten rows, with cast-iron helmets on both sides, and compare them as you go.
The cushioning inside
Look into the helmets for the interior padding, cast in iron from the original 20th-century designs along with the shell.
Good for
- An Hour Or Less
- Cheap Culture
- Evening Visits
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Image credits
8
- Ai Weiwei: Neil Balnaves Tallawoladah Lawn Commission 2026Courtesy of Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
- Portia Geach Memorial Award 2026Courtesy of S.H. Ervin Gallery
- Jordan Gower: Does the moon know the well?Photograph: Jacquie Manning
- Museum of Contemporary Art AustraliaTony Hisgett / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- Justice & Police Museumsv1ambo, CC BY 2.0
- Sydney ObservatoryDicklyon, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Museum of SydneyElekhh, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- S.H. Ervin GalleryCollywolly / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0