World First Indigenous Tourism Experience Launches at Uluru

Anangu share the Mala story, from Kaltukatjara to Uluru, through
 a drone, sound and light show designed and produced by RAMUS.

Wintjiri Wiru is the world’s largest ongoing drone display with more than 1,100 drones per show

Three years in the making and with an investment in excess of AUD$10 million, Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia has brought ancient storytelling to life using state-of-the-art technology to create Wintjiri Wiru, a fully-immersive light and sound experience with Uluru as its backdrop.

With two shows per night from 10 May, more than 1,100 drones will take to the skies to depict a chapter of the ancient Mala story from Kaltukatjara to Uluru. This will be the first time an Indigenous story has been told through the medium of lights, lasers, projection and drone technology at this scale and frequency, and performed on a regular basis anywhere in the world.

Wintjiri Wiru – which suggests a ‘beautiful view out to the horizon’ in the local Anangu language – will illuminate Australia’s Central Desert shining on the spinifex and mulga, connecting the earth and sky to offer an expansive experience of light and sound.

Cutting-edge technology

The technology and design for the experience comes from world-renowned media architecture studio RAMUS, based in Melbourne and headed up by Canadian-born light artist Bruce Ramus.

Working with Voyages over a period of three years from inception to completion, RAMUS developed complex imagery and animation that have not been achieved before.

RAMUS has worked on show lighting for some of the world’s biggest music shows and architectural illuminated urban installations, however this is the first time the team have worked in such remote surroundings as Uluru.

The drones

Weighing 310 grams each – roughly the same weight as two cricket balls – the Nova flow drones are controlled in formations of two fleets. The drones can fly three metres per second and for the story telling of Wintjiri Wiru, will reach 100 metres in height.

More than 1,100 drones will take to the skies during every performance, around 400 drones in the first fleet and 800 in the second – with each fleet in the air for approximately nine minutes.

The drones will fly over an area of approximately 750 metres wide by four to five km deep by 100 metres high.

There are six x 30w lasers, seven x 12kw projectors and around 30 bright field lights, as well as a host of lights within the amphitheatre. These are used to support the story and add accents to the drone imagery. They play a big part in the dynamic range of the show, able to convey a subtlety when needed, or a powerful movement and speed that supports the drones’ slower pace.

The audio is a surround-sound system with the audio tracks spatialised within the platform where the audience sits, which contributes to the immersive experience.

This will enhance the stirring background music of the inma and the narration which is in the local Pitjantjatjara Yankuntjatjarra language with an English aural translation.

The sound of the drones will be inaudible during the show.

How does it work?

A team of drone pilots and visual observers support the drones, preparing them before each show, keeping an eye on every performance, while an audiovisual technician oversees the laser, sound and projection timings.

The drones take off from the purpose-built drone platform. They are housed in bespoke containers, each container housing six drones and able to recharge them after each show. The containers also protect the drones from the harsh outback conditions.

Consultation with Anangu

To bring the Mala story to life on such an impressive and visual scale, Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia has been in continuous consultation with Anangu who hold the Mala story from Kaltukatjara to Uluru.

Rene Kulitja, on behalf of the Anangu Consultation Committee, said: “People from every place have come to see Uluru. Now we want people to come and experience our story in a new way. We want visitors to know this is our story, to look and listen and feel with us. Our stories have been here since the beginning, and we want to share this story with the world.”

Matthew Cameron-Smith, CEO of Voyages, said: “When you choregraph over 1,100 drones to tell a story that’s been told in the sand for more than 60,000 years and will now be told using cutting-edge technology for the world to see, it is important to us that we honour the culture in every step of the process.” 

For more information go to: www.ayersrockresort.com.au or call 1300 134 044.

*Source: Jill Collin jill.collins@barkingowlcommunications.com.au