Three years in the making and with an investment in excess of AUD$10 million, Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia has brought ancient storytelling to life using state-of-the-art technology to create Wintjiri Wiru, a fully-immersive light and sound experience with Uluru as its backdrop.

With two shows per night from 10 May, more than 1,100 drones will take to the skies to depict a chapter of the ancient Mala story from Kaltukatjara to Uluru.

“When you choregraph over 1,100 drones to tell a story that’s been told in the sand for more than 60,000 years and will now be told using cutting-edge technology for the world to see, it is important to us that we honour the culture in every step of the process,” said Indigenous Tourism Australia CEO, Matthew Cameron-Smith.

This will be the first time an Indigenous story has been told through the medium of lights, lasers, projection and drone technology at this scale and frequency, and performed on a regular basis anywhere in the world.

Wintjiri Wiru – which suggests a ‘beautiful view out to the horizon’ in the local Anangu language – will illuminate Australia’s Central Desert shining on the spinifex and mulga, connecting the earth and sky to offer an expansive experience of light and sound.

To bring the Mala story to life on such an impressive and visual scale, Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia has been in continuous consultation with Anangu who hold the Mala story from Kaltukatjara to Uluru.