Bayi Gardiya
Dr Christian Thompson AO
Artist Dr. Christian Thompson AO is the last surviving speaker of Bidjara, a recognised lost Indigenous language. He wanted to collaborate with Nakatomi to create a new media art experience that would tell his story and preserve this traditional language forever. Christian composed the song Bayi Gardiya (Singing Desert) in Bidjara, reflecting the degradation he has witnessed in both the language and the land of his childhood. Together, we created an emotive visual experience that would complement his beautiful melancholic soundtrack. The visual piece was designed to help viewers deeply empathise with Christian and become fully immersed in his story. Virtual Reality proved to be the perfect medium to achieve this.
Services
- XR
- Virtual Reality
- Visual Art
- Experiential
Bringing his memories to life.
Early on, we chose to create a fully virtual experience instead of using 360-degree video. The deeper sense of connection and immersion that virtual environments offer was crucial to the artwork — something that filmed environments simply can’t achieve.
In Bayi Gardiya, light symbolises memory and language, while the evolving landscape reflects the cyclical nature of life. In an artwork centered on memory, our aim was to craft something truly unforgettable.
The landscape of his childhood.
We meticulously refined this experience, over and over again — carefully crafting and timing each audio and visual element to command attention at every moment. The orchestration was designed to ensure that users would fully absorb both the explicit and implicit narratives of the piece. The result is a deeply emotional and unforgettable experience, with these heightened emotions playing a crucial role in preserving the Bidjara language for future generations.
Bayi Gardiya premiered exclusively at ACMI and was later honoured as the first non-traditional film to be inducted into the Australian National Film Archive, challenging and expanding the boundaries of modern film. It also earned the title of VR Film of the Year at the 2020 Real World XR Awards.