VR Interactive: Songbird & Gondwana

Gondwana - Ben Joseph Andrews - Australia

Gondwana is a constantly-evolving rainforest metaverse telling the story of climate change in the world's oldest rainforest in a durational 24 hour experience. Explore a vast ecosystem of rushing rivers and ancient trees... but this forest is changing. Every 14 minutes, the environment jumps forward in time by one year, bringing to life climate data projections from 1990 to 2090. The only salve to this decline is people: the more time you spend in Gondwana, the more resilient the forest becomes. Both resplendent and unsettling, this is a quiet meditation on time, change and climate action in an irreplaceable environment.

Songbird - Lucy Greenwell - United Kingdom and Denmark

Songbird is a fairytale with a dark heart. You will be transported to the island of Kauai in 1984 and into a painted replica of a lush cloud forest filled with colourful birds. Here, you are invited to search for the last known ʻōʻō, an iconic black bird with yellow leg feathers and a beautiful song, a bird whose existence has been threatened to the point of extinction. You are retracing the steps of world renowned ornithologist Dr Jim Jacobi, one of the last known people to ever see the ʻōʻō bird. You will hear the true story of his extraordinary meeting with the fabled ʻōʻō. Jim’s past experience and your present begin to merge as you first hear and then see the ʻōʻō, culminating in a final close encounter with the legendary ʻōʻō himself.