Breathe | Mauri Ora – an immersive journey into nature at Te Papa
Become a droplet of crystal-clear water, share breath with a rainforest tree, and be stardust in the cosmos this summer at Te Papa.
An immersive digital art experience unlike anything seen in New Zealand before will take visitors on a mind-blowing journey into nature.
Breathe | Mauri Ora: An Immersive Journey into Nature by Marshmallow Laser Feast is at Te Papa from 13 December 2025 to 27 April 2026. Entry $30 for adults.
Visitors will step inside immersive digital artworks on a massive scale, created by London-based art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast. This major exhibition is created by ACMI – Australia’s national museum of screen culture based in Melbourne, Victoria.
Including a guided meditation voiced by Cate Blanchett, Breathe | Mauri Ora invites you to slow down, relax – and breathe.
Comprised of major video works on a grand, awe-inspiring scale, guided meditation and evocative works on paper, visitors evolve from droplets of water to ancient trees, human cells and black holes, connecting to a deep understanding of the natural world and our place within it.
Enhancing the main exhibition, visitors can opt for an additional virtual reality experience, described by one visitor as “mind-blowingly fabulous.”
Over the course of 25 minutes, this virtual reality option takes you even deeper into Evolver, a large-scale video installation, as you are guided though its stages in complete audio and visual immersion.
The wrap-around Breathe | Mauri Ora Events Season offers ticketed and free events that provide unique ways to explore the exhibition’s themes, from an opening party through to panel talks, well-being events, immersive dining and a whānau day.
Te Papa Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive Courtney Johnston says Breathe | Mauri Ora transcends the everyday.
“This is a completely new experience for New Zealand audiences, at the cutting edge of technology and immersive art practice.”
“It’s profound, it’s beautiful and it’s joyous – people are going to leave feeling uplifted, and seeing the natural world with fresh eyes,” Ms Johnston says.
Te Papa Kaihautū | Māori co-leader Dr Arapata Hakiwai says Breathe | Mauri Ora is unique in Aotearoa.
“As we say in te ao Māori: ko au, ko te taiao, ko te taiao, ko au – I am nature, nature is me,” Dr Hakiwai says.
“This beautiful, awe-inspiring journey allows people to connect to a deep understanding of the natural world, and our place within it,” Dr Hakiwai says.
Marshmallow Laser Feast describe their work as a multisensory journey to where imagination and information collide.
“This exhibition is a celebration of being alive and explores our continued fascination with what sits just outside the reach of our senses,” say Marshmallow Laser Feast.
“Creating this group of artworks included scanning trees in the Amazon, listening in on black holes and mapping the human body in microscopic detail - to explore the life forces that connect us, the natural world, and the universe. It’s a real privilege to bring this work to Aotearoa,” Marshmallow Laser Feast say.
This is the fourth time Te Papa has hosted an exhibition created by ACMI, following the successful seasons of Game Masters, DreamWorks Animation, and Wonderland.
In the words of visitor to the exhibition at ACMI: “It’s about us – what it means to be alive – and how we are connected to the earth and to the cosmos.”
“Exhibitions from ACMI provide amazing opportunities for our audience,” says Te Papa Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive Courtney Johnston.
ACMI Director and CEO Seb Chan said the exhibition captured the hearts and minds of Melbourne visitors.
“Careful curation coupled with innovative experiential design and breathtaking artworks had a profound and lasting impact on all who experienced it. I’m thrilled New Zealanders will now have the chance to experience it too – Te Papa is the perfect home for Breathe | Mauri Ora,” said Mr Chan.
Te Papa acknowledges the generosity and support of our destination partner, Wellington City Council, major exhibition partners, Panasonic, Te Papa Foundation, Go Media, and Wellington Airport, and exhibition partners, Beca, Dulux, and British Council.
Media contacts
Heather Byrne, heather.byrne@tepapa.govt.nz 029 601 0120
Kate Camp, kate.camp@tepapa.govt.nz 029 601 0180
Images
Tickets on sale and event bookings live 29 October tepapa.nz/Breathe
Ticket prices
Adult: $30.00
Student, Concession, Friends of Te Papa Members: $23.00
Child (under 16): $15.00
Child (under 5): Free
Family Pass: 2 Adults/2 Children: $75.00
Premium VR + Exhibition ticket (Adult): $40.00
Premium VR + Exhibition ticket (Child recommended age 14 & over): $25.00
Premium VR + Exhibition ticket (concession): $33.00
The exhibition
Breathe | Mauri Ora comprises five core areas: Sanctuary of the Unseen Forest, Evolver, The Tides Within Us, Distortions in Spacetime, We Live In An Ocean Of Air.
Te Papa is only the second venue to ever host the exhibition, which is curated by ACMI, the Melbourne-based creator of previous successful exhibitions at Te Papa including DreamWorks Animation and Wonderland.
The exhibition includes artworks executive produced by the late Edward R. Pressman and filmmaker Terrence Malick; collaborations featuring narration by executive producer Cate Blanchett; poetry by Daisy Lafarge; and music by Jon Hopkins, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Meredith Monk, Howard Skempton and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood.
Marshmallow Laser Feast
Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) are a London-based art collective led by artists and directors Robin McNicholas, Ersin Han Ersin, and Barnaby Steel who work at the intersection of science, art and technology – employing a wealth of creative disciplines, from installation to kinetic sculpture, film to live performance.
MLF’s work invites participants into a sensory journey that reinterprets the idea of human perception and experiences beyond our everyday reality. MLF’s approach is one of collaboration with artists, engineers and scientists, building bespoke software and hardware systems to realise their visions.
MLF’s work has been exhibited in the UK and internationally, including at the Saatchi Gallery, NXT Museum, Lisbon Triennial, Istanbul Design Biennial, the Sundance Film Festival, and the V&A and Design Museum, London.
ACMI
ACMI is Australia’s museum of screen culture. Watch, play, make and discover the universe of screen-based art, films, TV and videogames. Visit us in Melbourne’s Fed Square, online and on tour. Our museum attracts millions of visitors through a vibrant offer of exhibitions, screenings, commissions and festivals. ACMI’s industry, education and creative incubator programs inspire and develop the next generation of screen creatives. We are a globally recognised hub that connects people, communities, technology and ideas to shape our futures. More at acmi.net.au.
Visitor comments – from attendees at ACMI in Melbourne
“It’s about us – what it means to be alive – and how we are connected to the earth and to the cosmos.”
“Extremely special and educational. It was incredible to feel a part of the world and its connectivity and function.”
“It uses technology to connect us to nature which seems a bit bizarre, but it does somehow deepen and accelerate the embodied experience. It’s both fascinating mentally and felt viscerally.”
Australian media reviews of the exhibition
“Now I know how I want to die – with [Cate] Blanchett in my ears as I ride the gently buffeting breezes like an insect on the wing. Oh nature, wild nature, finally I am at one with you.” Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian, 7/12/23
"This exhibition featuring artworks by London-based experiential art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast is sumptuous, a feast for eyes and ears at the technological bleeding edge of audio-visual practice. With its swirling murmurations of atoms, cells, blood platelets and gravitational forces, it is straightforwardly beautiful.” Dominic Redfern, The Conversation, 28/11/23
“You’ve never seen a tree quite like this. It’s almost impossible to stand in front of this digitally created projection of an enormous kapok tree from the Colombian rainforest and ever look at the natural environment in the same way again.” Rob Harris, The Saturday Age (Spectrum), 18/11/23
“It’s a visual journey of the breath, and a hypnotic sequence that connects the birth of a cell with the cosmos.” Rob Harris, The Saturday Age (Spectrum), 18/11/23
“A meditation on cosmic order. A London-based collective’s video animations awaken viewers to the act of breathing and our existence with nature” Christopher Allen, The Australian 23/03/2024
Artwork details and credits
Sanctuary of the Unseen Forest
This large-scale video installation of an Amazonian kapok tree embraces audiences as they enter the gallery, the work draws attention to the immensity of our natural world and puts the human body into perspective.
By Marshmallow Laser Feast
Originally commissioned by Barbican Immersive
Evolver
A series of large-scale video installations with optional VR.
From the exhale of a tree to the first intake of human breath, Evolver takes visitors on a voyage through the body, following the flow of oxygen to its origin as a single living cell. Originally devised as a VR experience, the work has been reimagined for ACMI’s Gallery 4. It includes a meditation space with narration from executive producer Cate Blanchett, a visual journey of the breath, and a hypnotic sequence that connects the birth of a cell with the cosmos.
Narrated By: Cate Blanchett
Executive Producers: Edward R. Pressman & Terrence Malick
Executive Producers: Cate Blanchett, Coco Francini, Andrew Upton, Nicole Shanahan
Producers: Sam Pressman, Antoine Cayrol
Directed by Marshmallow Laser Feast
An Atlas V, Pressman Film and Marshmallow Laser Feast Production
In Association with Dirty Films
Supported by Nicole Shanahan & Bia-Echo Foundation
Made in Collaboration With Natan Sinigaglia
Key scientific collaborator: Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine MEVIS
The Tides Within Us
Six large scale static images reveal the rhythms of oxygen flowing through the branching ecosystem of the human body. The work challenges the boundaries between humans and the environment, and where the body begins and ends.
By Marshmallow Laser Feast
Co-commissioned by York Mediale with Coventry City of Culture Trust
Key scientific collaborator: Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine MEVIS
Distortions in Spacetime
After emerging from a meditative state in Evolver, journey through space to the edge of a black hole. This interactive voyage between time, space and human experience harnesses the energy of the universe and explores the link between black holes, dying stars and the human body.
By Marshmallow Laser Feast
Commissioned by Manchester Science Festival, part of the Science Museum Group in partnership with The British Science Festival and University of Hull
We Live in an Ocean of Air
The final work of the exhibition brings visitors back to earth and continues the journey of a single breath. Revealing the invisible connection between plants and people, We Live in an Ocean of Air delves into the wondrous rhythm that underpins life on earth.
By Marshmallow Laser Feast