ALBANY’S recently installed Field of Light: Avenue of Honour by acclaimed UK artist Bruce Munro has been attracting nearly 1000 visitors from around Australia every night.
Standing beneath the memorial trees lining the Avenue of Honour, the Field of Light glows in the greens, whites and yellows of the wattle and the kowhai, the national flowers of Australia and New Zealand, respectively.
The installation, consisting of 16,000 glass spheres on fine stems powered by fibre optic, is Munro’s second installation in Australia.
Tens of thousands of troops from the 1st Australian Infantry Battalion departed Albany for the Great War on November 1, 1914.
Sailing in a single giant convoy, it was the last sight of home for the troops, many of whom did not return
The free installation is lit from sunset to 10pm daily. It will remain in place until Anzac Day next year.
Tours incorporating Field of Light: Avenue of Honour and Albany Heritage Park run weekly from Thursday-Sunday.
A 10-stop audio trail guide will provide visitors with the narrative behind the artwork.
Visitors are asked to bring their own headphones.
Accommodation packages are also available.
Munro’s first artwork in Australia, at Uluru/Ayers Rock, was installed in 2016.
Named Tili Wiru Tjuta Nyakutjaku, or “looking at lots of beautiful lights” in local Pitjantjatjara, it is his largest work to date, comprising a fantasy garden of 50,000 spindles of light.
Details – fieldoflightalbany.com.au
- Read more: History and food plated up on WA's south coast
- Read more: Poppies project commemorates soldiers