Indigenous storytelling will take to the skies in Central Australia as state-of-the-art drone technology takes off this week, creating a new experience for visitors at Uluṟu.
The ongoing nighttime experience, launched on May 10, tells a chapter of the Mala story from Kaḻṯukatjara to Uluṟu, engaging visitors through immersive light and sound. It’s taken three years of development and A$10 million (roughly NZ$10.6 million) to set the technological show in motion.
The name of the experience is Wintjiri Wiṟu, which roughly translates to English as a suggestion of a ‘beautiful view out to the horizon’. It is the first time an Indigenous story will be told through lasers, projection, lights and drones on such a large scale and with such frequency – from May to December, two sessions will be held every night (with reduced frequency at other times in the year).
It involves the choreography of 1100 drones over nine minutes, which move together to produce colourful images and shapes. Along with the visuals, Wintjiri Wiṟu utilises a carefully spatialised audio system, playing background music of the inma (this loosely translates as ‘stories sung and danced’) and narration through the local Pitjantjatjara Yankuntjatjarra language (an English aural translation will also play).
