7 December 2023
The Wintjiri Wiru Working Group who created Wintjiri Wiru in partnership with Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia has accepted their two incredibly well-deserved Northern Territory Tourism Brolga Awards at Uluru.
The Group comprises senior Anangu from Mutitjulu and Kaltukatjara (Docker River) who are the custodians of the chapter of the ancestral Mala story told during the Wintjiri Wiru cultural storytelling and drone experience. The Group came together at the purpose-built Wintjiri Wiru open-air theatre at Ayers Rock Resort, Uluru to receive their awards.
Following the Darwin awards evening on 11 November recognising the NT Tourism industry's most outstanding offerings, Wintjiri Wiru emerged as the stand-out performer with two accolades - Chair's Choice for Tourism Excellence and Best Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tourism Experience.
Rene Kulitja, on behalf of the Wintjiri Wiru Working Group said, "We have held hands with Voyages to create Wintjiri Wiru together. From the beginning Voyages has been working together with the Anangu Working Group - talking together, listening together and creating together."
"People from every place have come to see Uluru. Now we want people to come and experience our story in a new way. We want visitors to know this is our story, to look and listen and feel with us. Our stories have been here since the beginning, and we want to share this story with the world."
Voyages CEO Matt Cameron-Smith said: "These awards honour Anangu and the story and the story they have so graciously shared with the world. We are incredibly proud to be able to share this stunning Indigenous storytelling experience with our guests, offering an authentic connection to Anangu culture in the spiritual heart of Australia."
"This story belongs to Anangu, so it's important Anangu benefit from the story being told," he concluded.
Every visitor who experiences Wintjiri Wiru plays an important role in delivering long-term benefits to Anangu. Voyages worked with award winning Indigenous law firm Terri Janke and Company and the Arts Law Centre to develop and implement best practice Indigenous Cultural Property Protocols to ensure protection, respect, remuneration and recognition for Anangu in the long term.
Wintjiri Wiru, meaning 'beautiful view out to the horizon' in the local Pitjantjatjara language, is a breathtaking cultural storytelling experience that brings to life a chapter of the ancestral Mala story from Kaltukatjara to Uluru through choreographed drones, lasers and projections that illuminate the night sky.
It is the first time an experience of this magnitude has been performed on a regular basis anywhere in the world. More than 1,100 drones take flight each night to depict aspects of the Mala story accompanied by narration in Anangu languages and a soundtrack with traditional Inma recorded with members of the local Anangu community.
Designed and produced by world-renowned media architecture studio RAMUS, the Australian desert is illuminated with a spectacle of lights, projections and lasers shining on the spinifex and mulga, connecting the earth and sky to offer an expansive experience of light and sound.
For more information and to book, visit www.ayersrockresort.com.au/wintjiri-wiru, your local travel agent, or call 1300 134 044.
Image Caption: The Anangu Consultation Group who represented their communities and collaborated with Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia to bring Wintjiri Wiru to life proudly accept their two Brolga Awards.
L-R: Beryl de Rose, Rene Kulitja, Ruby James, Rosalind Yibardi, Malaway Teamay, Sidney James, Tapaya Edwards, Sammy Wilson. Absent: Deborah Walkabout, Selina Kulitja, Peter Mitchell.
Acknowledgment: As custodians of the land, Anangu hold the Mala story from Kaltukatjara to Uluru. To share their story, RAMUS designed and produced an artistic platform using drones, light and sound to create an immersive storytelling experience.
About Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia: Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) established to undertake tourism business on its behalf. Voyages offers unique experiences and cultural immersion in spectacular locations around Australia including Ayers Rock Resort in the Northern Territory and the Mossman Gorge Cultural Centre in Tropical North Queensland. Voyages works closely with local communities, respecting and supporting Indigenous culture and offering employment, training and business development opportunities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Profits from all business activities are re-invested in the Indigenous and resort experiences and through the various training and development programs in place around Australia.
