Colour: Secret Language of the Reef Exhibit - Museum of Tropical Queensland
An underwater tour teaches us about science, coral and the beauty of the Reef.
Client: Museum of Tropical Queensland
Category: Museum Exhibitions
Date: May 2014
Brandi Projects were commissioned to research, design, fabricate and install the exhibit Colour: Secret Language of the Reef for the Museum of Tropical Queensland. The exhibit informs visitors on how coral and marine creatures use colour to communicate and survive. It communicates to the wider community the beauty and significance of the Great Barrier Reef, and the possibilities for preservation going forward. The exhibit provides visitors with a submersible experience. The visitor becomes part of a simulated underwater tour, learning about why coral changes colour the deeper you descend down the reef profile, with an educational audio narration. In collaboration with our trusted science communicators Econnect Communication, Brandi Projects tendered and were contracted to research, design, produce and install a new exhibition that informs visitors how the natural inhabitants of the reef not only perceive colour differently, but use colour to communicate and survive.
The main feature in the exhibition is a submersible experience where the visitor becomes part of an ‘underwater tour.’ They learn about why coral changes colour the deeper you descend down the reef profile, with an audio narration explaining the vision across the nine porthole screens.
Another interactive element invites visitors to be a Reef Hero. They do this by using their arms and legs to copy the gestures needed to stop overfishing, catchment run off, coastal development, climate change and more. You can then opt to have your photo taken for the MTQ Facebook page.
More Detail about the Colour: Secret Language of the Reef Exhibit
Purpose
The purpose of the exhibit was to communicate the technological advances in marine science research, which allows scientists to learn more than ever before about the Great Barrier Reef. This exhibit educates a wider audience with specific reference to the significance of colour. How coral and marine creatures communicate through a hidden language, and how scientists have discovered it. MTQ provided access to a large collection of coral samples, photographic images and information. In addition we engaged specialist divers to film the reef for footage used in the submersible experience. Many of the topics required images and footage to be supplied from far and wide by specialists in various fields.
Features at a Glance
- Multimedia submersible experience including audio narration explaining the vision across nine porthole screens
- Coral Reef Profile wall with coral samples and time lapse photography on screens
- Mock jetty structure with light effects & ambient audio
- Reef Hero green screen/projected animated interactive – visitors use their arms and legs to copy the gestures needed to stop overfishing, catchment runoff, coastal development, climate change and more. We also turned this technology into a photo opportunity for visitors, connecting to the MTQ Facebook page.
- Panoramic touchscreen showing a Catlin Sea Survey
- Interactive Touchscreens – Mimicry Quiz; Fishy Vision (What We See and What They See E-Book)
- Suspended diver with shark resistant wet suit
- Glass bottom boat with fishing mannequins
Collaborations
Brandi Projects worked closely with Econnect, MTQ and other stakeholders such as James Cook University scientists to convey science in new and accessible ways.
