In 2009, an installation called Forgotten Songs appeared in Sydney’s Angel Place. The laneway was enlivened with floating birdcages and recordings of extinct or threatened bird species native to New South Wales.

The art project is now set to return to Angel Place permanently as part of a $9 million program to revitalise Sydney’s laneways.

Image courtesy of City of Sydney

“Angel Place is one of our secret gems, a laneway that’s fallen between the cracks of surrounding high rises,” said City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.

“It’s a pocket with so much potential.”

Forgotten Songs includes the installation of 120 birdcages suspended to look as if they’re floating in the sky.

Originally created by Michael Thomas Hill, Dr Richard Major, Richard Wong and David Towey for the City of Sydney’s By George! laneway art initiative, the project also includes recordings of the sounds of birds that were pushed out into the fringes of suburbia as population and development in the city grew.

“People can again wander through this hidden laneway and lose themselves in its inspiring sounds,” said Moore.

“As you race along the cobblestones in search of a little place to eat or shop, you’ll hear these empty cages echoing with the sounds of the birds that once flew through Sydney’s centre.”

The Angel Place upgrade will invigorate this often overlooked part of Sydney in a creative and exciting way.

“Laneways are ideal places for small bars and cafés, pop-up outlets, galleries and retail spaces – the sort of places that make Sydney more interesting,” Moore said.