The vast age of the earth and the huge transformations it has undergone stretch human imagination. Increasingly science, art and Indigenous Knowledges intersect in the exploration of Deep Time - a notion that spans past, present and future. But what can we learn from Deep Time, and how can this understanding meaningfully inform our future? 

Join us for an evening with the creators of The Earth Above: A Deep Time View of Australia’s Epic History, which is showing as part of Adelaide Fringe.

In the planetarium show a collective of Indigenous and non-indigenous filmmakers, Elders, Traditional Owners, storytellers, artists, performers, archaeologists and animators have come together to create a series of immersive stories that capture the entanglement of emerging research with Indigenous knowledges to explore deep time and propose hopeful ways to imagine our shared future. 

This event is an opportunity to hear from some of the collective behind The Earth Above project. They will reflect on the stories that underpin the project - from ancient trackways at Lake Mungo to the discovery of the first Indigenous made ceramics in Australia, and explore how new collaborative relationships and research can transform our understanding of Australia’s past and future.   

Presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre. 

Images: Stills from The Earth Above: A Deep Time View of Australia’s Epic History

Share this event

the earth above

The Earth Above: A Deep Time View of Australia’s Epic History is a feature-length full-dome planetarium show from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH) produced by the Deakin MotionLab in collaboration with First Nations communities and UOW Science Space. 

The show explores Australia’s past 140,000 years, incorporating traditional and scientific knowledge to tell Australia’s epic story and transport viewers to four locations: Girraween Lagoon on Larrakia and Wulna Country outside Darwin in the NT; Cloggs Cave on GunaiKurnai Country in Victoria’s East Gippsland region; Lake Mungo in NSW on the land of the Barkandji/Paakantyi, Ngiyampaa and Mutthi Mutthi people; and Jiigurru (Lizard Island) on the Great Barrier Reef, which is sacred to many, including the Dingaal community. 

The Earth Above follows the ancestors on a journey deep into Country. We move across ancient Superhighways connecting the entire continent of Australia, sharing deep time stories illuminated by new relationships between emerging research and First Nation’s knowledge. Traditional Owners and key community members from each nation featured in The Earth Above co-created the stories: writing, voicing, visualising and animating the work. Through this co-creation The Earth Above aims to contribute to a transformation of our understanding of Australia's ancient Indigenous heritage and environment. 

The Earth Above is showing as part of Adelaide Fringe, 21 February - 23 March, at the Grand Hall, Dom Polski Centre. Produced by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage and the Deakin MotionLab in collaboration with First Nations communities and University of Wollongong Science Space.