Gondwana

Bear witness to the possible futures of the planet’s oldest tropical rainforest in a world-first durational VR installation, arriving direct from Sundance and SXSW.

Located in Far North Queensland, the Daintree is a staggering 180 million years old and has been named the second-most irreplaceable World Heritage area on the planet by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. For millennia, it has existed in fruitful cohabitation with the local Kuku Yalanji people. However, as with most of Earth’s natural wonders, this 1200-square-kilometre rainforest has become threatened by the lasting climatic changes brought about by colonisation and industrialisation.

Mapping 100 years of real-world data projections onto a simulated ecosystem, this stunningly detailed VR experience from director Ben Joseph Andrews and producer Emma Roberts inserts users among the ancient trees, rare animals and precious flora of the Daintree. Every 14 minutes, the environment jumps forward in time by one year – heading towards a speculative 2090 – and the longer audiences stay within Gondwana, the more resilient the forest becomes. Screening over 48 hours at ACMI, this one-of-a-kind VR work is a quiet meditation on time, change and climate action in an irreplaceable ecosystem.

“One of the most acclaimed experiences of this year … with a form of immersion that defies temporality, to better observe the impact of [humanity] on nature.” – XRMust

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Please note: Patrons are encouraged to return to the experience multiple times. 

• Patrons can come at any time throughout the 48 hours (including outside the normal 10am–10pm hours); however, we recommend that you book a ticket during peak times to guarantee entry, which includes one headset.
• Patrons can book subsequent on-peak time slots to guarantee access to a headset at their preferred time when they return.
• Patrons are also encouraged to revisit the experience during the off-peak period. During this period, headsets will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
• Audiences can engage with the experience as spectators without a headset, which does not require a booking.