The Great Barrier Reef Is Coming to Monaco This Summer

Whilst Monaco is dearly missing its Australian visitors, Australia will be more present than ever in the Principality this summer thanks to the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco who will host an interactive exhibition dedicated to the magnificence of the Great Barrier Reef.

The unique exhibition, “IMMERSION”, starts from 18th July 2020, and will reveal one of the 7 natural wonders of the world through a multimedia installation which offers visitors the opportunity to experience a dive below the surface in order to meet the iconic species that inhabit the planet's largest coral ecosystem. This immersive experience, combining contemplation and interaction, engages and educates the public to better protect the marine world.

Thanks to the use of advanced technologies and a real-time projection system, “IMMERSION” allows the public to discover and interact with an environment which is fictional in its conception, but realistic and naturalistic in its presentation.

With an experience centred around the realism of the sensation of diving, visitors - like divers during their exploration - can see the various species evolve naturally around them, as they interact according to their behaviours, their movements and their gestures. The public travels through a living environment in perpetual movement, where all encounters are possible: from the humpback whale to the carpet shark, from barracudas to fluorescent corals. Staged by an international team of designers, in close collaboration with the Oceanographic Museum and its partners, as well as divers and biologists, the experience is intended to be both entertaining and engaging.

To give life to this underwater odyssey, the most advanced technologies are used to further the Museum's mission of mediation: to create a link between humankind and an ecosystem that is generally inaccessible to it. The edutainment dimension of the presentation responds to the aims of the Oceanographic Museum, which has strived for more than 100 years to ensure that the Ocean is known, loved and protected.

Over the course of various meetings and projects, the Oceanographic Institute has developed a special relationship with Australia: from island communities to major scientific laboratories. Australia's exceptional biodiversity – particularly around the Great Barrier Reef – is mirrored by a remarkable artistic and cultural wealth. This relationship echoes the scientific collaborations and political initiatives developed by the institutions of Monaco.

In 2016, Oceanographic Museum of Monaco hosted “TABA NABA”, an exhibition showcasing Aboriginal and Oceanic art for six months. In October 2018, HSH Prince Albert II visited the island of Badu in the Torres Strait, off the coast of mainland Australia where he carried out a Monaco Exploration Society mission, in which he experienced the culture of the islanders, who advocate a balanced and respectful relationship between humans and nature. In 2019, the Museum hosted a photographic exhibition recounting this mission. A feature-length documentary by award-winning Australian director Douglas Watkin will be released in 2020.

For more information on “IMMERSION”, download the full press kit here.

To view the official teaser video click here.

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