M12 Emu in the Sky

Commissioned by Transport for NSW, the M12 Motorway corridor weaves a continuous Dharug story across 16 kilometres of Western Sydney infrastructure. At its heart stands a 30-metre landmark sculpture at the Warami Drive interchange — the story of Mariong, the Emu and Mother Spirit, who becomes the Milky Way. Curated and co-created by Balarinji Studio with locally-connected Aboriginal artists, the sculpture uses dynamic lighting to reveal two emu forms visible only from specific viewpoints, reflecting the Great Emu constellation's changing presence across the six Aboriginal seasons. This same seasonal narrative extends across all six overbridges, where large-scale reflective artworks on the safety screens carry the Mariong Creation story the full length of the motorway.

The M12 also serves as the primary access route to the Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport at Badgerys Creek, making this one of the most travelled and most storied stretches of new road in the country. Photographing the project end to end — every bridge, every artwork, every sign — the cumulative effect of the emu story building across the corridor is something magical.

Designed by Transport NSW, Balarinji, Aspect Studio’s, Context, Studio Colin Polwarth