Huh, Australia Is Pretty Sweet Actually
National Geographic's new audio-visual experience is like cramming four separate camping weekends into one solid hour.
When you think of Australia, what comes to mind? The arvo sun setting over Wollongong’s escarpment, or a casual stroll through centuries-old rainforest, just an hour’s drive from Sydney’s CBD? Yep, us Aussies are a lucky bunch. If you feel like you’ve been taking living down under for granted lately, we’d suggest trotting on down to the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre to have your mind blown by the audio-visual wizardry that is ‘Our Country’.
Taking up an entire room at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, Australian Geographic’s immersive experience is a lot, but in all the right ways. Think Van Gogh Alive meets David Attenborough’s Our Planet, but Aussie.
The main hall is adorned with a ton of projector screens and hidden speakers, giving a panoramic view. Wherever you look, the space teems with life. Streaks of lighting dance across the room; a careful combination of projections and spatial audio results in a truly 360-degree experience.
It’s totally acceptable to experience a sudden onset of nostalgia for Finding Nemo during the exhibit.
How you witness Our Country is up to you. When we checked it out, the team leaned in for a close-up view of breaking waves and dolphins that splashed over displays on the walls and floor, before quickly scarpering when snakes and crocs appeared with frightening realism. Camera-shy species like great whites and echidnas are showcased in spectacular detail, too. Cute!
Of course, you can’t celebrate Australia’s natural environment without also reckoning with the devastation this continent has experienced following colonisation. Of the thousands of clips used in Our Country, some of the most powerful footage comes towards the end, the space growing almost claustrophobic during a montage focusing on wild bushfires.
“Australia is just one of five countries that holds 70 percent of the planet’s remain wilderness,” producer of Our Country Karina Holden says.
Okay sorry but how sick is this.
“In fact, 80 percent of Australia’s animals are found nowhere else on Earth. We should all be stirred to protect it and fight for it’s preservation.”
Crocodiles to cockatoos, the Great Barrier Reef to the Flinders Ranges, across the hour-long show our country’s breathtaking biodiversity is the star. A visit there is a good reminder of just how fucking awesome Australia really is. It’s up to us to keep it that way.
‘Our Country’ is currently screening at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, with tickets available to order online from $24.90 here.
Editor’s note: Junkee Media and Australian Geographic are both subsidiaries of RACAT Media. This piece has been updated to reflect the details around Perth’s Our Country showing.
Photo Credit: Ben Broady