Great Southern Land tells the story of Australia's unique landscape and its people, both indigenous and those who arrived after European colonization. It explores environmental challenges and themes of aboriginal wisdom, climate change, and biodiversity. The exhibit, built in collaboration with multiple Aboriginal communities, including a renowned timber artist, and an acoustic ecologist, creates an immersive experience for visitors through dramatic scale and interconnected themes.

Because of the National Museum of Australia’s unusual and dramatic architecture, with walls that are either slanted or curved, our exhibit had to be completely freestanding. We used this to our advantage, creating islands of experience with sightlines that naturally flow from one exhibit to the next. We also embraced dramatic scale, beginning in the first exhibit, an immersive forest of towering bunya trees. Mirrors on either side of the space create an infinity effect - visitors see themselves walking among these ancient, giant Australians, touch the timbers, and feel vibrations emanating from within.

We know that stories about climate change can be frightening. We wanted visitors to leave feeling inspired and compelled to action, not paralyzed. So we looked for opportunities to tell stories of nature from a human vantage point. For example, A huge 4.5-meter taxidermy saltwater crocodile is displayed alongside the fiberglass canoe in which renowned Australian environmental philosopher Val Plumwood was attacked by a saltwater crocodile in 1985, forever changing her perspective on humanity’s place in the natural world. By juxtaposing human objects with nature, we made it possible to experience the impact of our interactions with the natural world on a visceral level.

The Power gallery displays indigenous art alongside giant rocks, balancing creation stories and the power of aboriginal culture with the natural forces that shaped Australia over deep time. In the center, the Deep Time Theater’s large-scale, curved projection surface shows contemporary video footage of grand and diverse landscapes and notable characters from the Australian continent, communicating that the land is grand, ancient, and peopled.

The Connection gallery is centered on three life-sized models of orcas, which hang dramatically from the ceiling, backgrounded by beautiful ambient footage of orcas in the wild. The exhibit shares the story of the remarkable predators who helped whalers hunt Humpback whales off the coast of Eden until the 1930s.

The final Change gallery shares how Australia has transformed over time, and what that can teach us as we face rapid environmental change. Featured animals include termites, a species that flourished as parts of Australia’s climate became more arid as the continent shifted northwards, and an interactive Platypus exhibit where visitors discover how this unique animal adapted over millions of years.