Bunjil is a First People’s exhibit in the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Melbourne Museum. Bunjil Creation Cinema is an immersive experience that invites visitors to share a moment of spiritual and sensory awakening. Sound, visual art, technology and storytelling come together to represent the essence of creation for Victorian Aboriginal people and shares insight into their spiritual connection to country.
The centrepiece of this experience is a large kinetic sculpture inspired by the notion of continuity and the omnipresent nature of creation. The kinetic form symbolises Bunjil the Creator, a Wedge-tailed Eagle in flight. Spanning 2.2 metres, the structure (in constant motion), mirrors the size and majesty of a mature Wedge-tailed Eagle. The moving form shows the wings of a bird in flight and reflects a universal motion seen throughout nature – the movement of a wave, the lines of a mountain range, a manta ray moving through water, a snake moving across the land. Visitors are invited into this spiritual experience to see, and feel, creation in motion – past, present and future.
The kinetic sculpture is further brought to life with striking visuals, an evocative soundscape and a poetic narrative that conveys the significance of creation: Bunjil and the Aboriginal ancestor spirits. The sculpture is suspended in the centre of a circular room within the exhibition. Upon entry, visitors are surrounded by ambient sound and view striking visual content projected onto the kinetic form. Song-like narration voiced by Aboriginal actors Jack Charles and Pauline Whyman accompanies the visual experience.
