VANDAL Wins Australian Good Design Award for Badu Gili Healing Spirit Projection

Sydney creative studio VANDAL has been recognised at the 2025 Australian Good Design Awards, receiving honours in the Built Environment & Installation Design category for Badu Gili: Healing Spirit -- a six-minute projection artwork illuminating the sails of the Sydney Opera House.

Created in collaboration with the Sydney Opera House, Biennale of Sydney, and Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Badu Gili: Healing Spirit celebrates stories of ritual and intergenerational knowledge. The work brings together the art of Marilyn Russell, Steven Russell, and their late mother Esme Timbery of the Bidjigal people, alongside Joseca Mokahesi Yanomami of the Yanomami people in the Brazilian Amazon.

Through this global, cross-cultural exchange, the projection creates a dialogue between two First Nations communities, reflecting the universal human themes of resilience, kinship, and connection to Country.

VANDAL’s creative director, Chris Scott, said, “This project represents the best of what we do at VANDAL -- a huge collaborative effort across creative, design, animation, and production. I’m incredibly proud of our team, who poured so much care, sensitivity, and craft into every frame.”

The Good Design Awards Jury praised the work, stating, “This powerful collaboration exemplifies the role of design in fostering cultural exchange and understanding. The beautiful projection on one of Australia’s most iconic public settings immerses the viewer into an engaging spiritual experience. Well done to the team for this achievement.”

Now in its 66th year, the Australian Good Design Awards are Australia’s oldest and most prestigious international design awards, celebrating excellence in design and innovation across more than 30 disciplines.

This recognition follows a standout year for VANDAL, after collecting four Golds and one Silver at the Better Future Sydney Design Awards.

Badu Gili: Healing Spirit continues the Sydney Opera House’s legacy of celebrating First Nations art through light, while expanding its global reach through collaboration with international Indigenous voices. It continues to play every night from sunset, on the eastern sails of Sydney Opera House.