Taronga Zoo all lit-up for Vivid Sydney

SYDNEY’S harbourfront zoo will become a sparkling after-dark destination during the Vivid Festival — and the chief zookeeper said the animals won’t mind a bit.

Artist Zhang Ji puts the finishing touches on an oversized elephant lantern to be installed at Taronga Zoo for Vivid Festival. Picture: Dylan Robinson

TARONGA  Zoo will be transformed into a sparkling after-dark destination for Vivid Sydney this year.

The light, music and ideas festival comes to the zoo for the first time with a trail walk featuring giant animal multimedia light sculptures.

The sculptures, created by artist Zhang Ji, highlight 10 critical, endangered and at-risk animals in Australia and Indonesia, including the bilby, platypus, Sumatran tiger, elephant and rhino.

The Be the Light for the Wild trail will take guests through the zoo with minimal impact on the animals, according to Taronga director Cameron Kerr.

Illuminated tiger sculpture at Taronga Zoo in Mosman. Picture: Christian Gilles

“Animal safety is our number one priority,” Mr Kerr said.

“Clever animals, like the elephant, are really unfazed by art or lights so even if they were near enough for them to notice I doubt they would pay it much mind.”

Towering over guests, the sculptures will combine interactive lighting, sound effects and moving parts to create a night time spectacular and promote animal conservation.

“The enormity and the colours are truly awe-inspiring, and they have exceeded my expectations in all the best ways,” he said.

A gigantic illuminated Bilby, a Sumatran Tiger with sound effects and a magnificent marine turtle with moving fins will be just three of the stars of Vivid Sydney at Taronga Zoo.

“The amount of interactivity is also amazing, they light up when someone walks past, so we can have children approaching a sculpture and it reacts, and gives them information about that animal and its plight.

“We hope that this will tell the story of each of these animals through light.”

The large-scale sculptures will be surrounded by thousands of small lanterns made by local primary schools.

Artists Luo Ziming and Zhang Ji put the finishing touches on one of the lanterns to be installed at Taronga Zoo. Picture: Dylan Robinson

The Taronga Be The Light For The Wild sculpture displayruns from May 27 to June 18.

For more information visit vividsydney.com.