There’s a quiet kind of magic unfolding at Hermès Sydney Trust this summer, as Bundjalung artist Shaun Daniel Allen – better known as Shal – reveals an immersive new window installation that feels as heartfelt as it is visually arresting. Opening 9 December and running through mid-February, the project sits under Hermès’ 2025 theme, Drawn to Craft, a fitting frame for an artist whose practice is anchored in intuition, storytelling, and a deep reverence for Country.

The work was shaped by a journey north, where Shal was invited to collaborate with celebrated artists Aunties Nanuk and Regina Wilson at The Durrmu Art Centre in Peppimentarti, southwest of Darwin. The experience became a catalyst for the installation’s visual language – layered textiles, rich earthen tones, and the suggestion of rockscapes laced with water-filled pockets that hold Hermès objects like quiet treasures.

True to Shal’s practice, the installation feels alive, almost breathing. It spills across the windows and into the store, forming a subtle dialogue between the contemporary artwork and the heritage bones of the building. “Once I knew I was getting the window and could spread out, the idea came pretty quickly,” he says. “The landscapes of Sydney, the colours, the rock formations… most of Country has been a source of inspiration.” The result is a nod to the city’s own geology – the sandstone, the shoreline, the feeling of being close to water carving its way through rock.

There’s vulnerability in the scale of the project, something Shal doesn’t shy away from. “It’s been a major project, a bit terrifying to be honest,” he admits. But that fear sits alongside pride, particularly in what the work might mean for those who encounter it. “I hope that when people walk past, they will be intrigued and want to come in. For any mob to walk past and see something they can identify with in a space like Hermès makes me really proud.”

The installation is, at its core, a meeting point – between artist and audience, craft and Country, tradition and reinvention. And it offers a quiet reminder that even in the most polished spaces, there’s room for something deeply human to take root.