Naihan Li’s Armillary Whiskey Bar was created for an imaginary nineteenth-century Chinese entrepreneur, a gateway to catharsis for a sophisticated, worldly man, isolated but thriving on the Australian frontier.

Drawing inspiration from 19th Century globe bars, Naihan Li decided to create an object that provided a gateway from the ravages of frontier-land culture into nightly leisure.

Appropriating the form of the armillary sphere — a device featuring a mixture of terrestrial navigational and celestial guides — the Armillary Whisky Bar replaces the astrological references with reflections on the character traits of the entrepreneurs that thrived in frontier lands.

During the commission, Naihan Li was quick to point out that our reading of the Chinese community during the gold rush era was far too constrained. Upon further research, Broached discovered many stories of Chinese entrepreneurs who travelled to Australia during the gold rush, many of which, were already wealthy and urbane and gained further prosperity while living in Australia.