This summer, Te Papa will transport you into the heart of nature through one of the most captivating digital art experiences ever seen in Aotearoa. Breathe | Mauri Ora: An Immersive Journey into Nature by London-based art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast opens on 13 December 2025, inviting you to see the world through new eyes… and breathe.
Created by ACMI, Australia’s national museum of screen culture in Melbourne, the exhibition merges art, science and technology on a grand scale. You’ll step into large-scale digital artworks that trace the journey of breath, from the oxygen flowing through forest canopies to the cells within the human body and even to stardust in the cosmos.
At its core, Breathe | Mauri Ora is a multisensory exploration of life and connection. Guided by a meditation narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett, the exhibition encourages you to slow down and reconnect with the living world. It’s an experience that, as Te Papa Chief Executive Courtney Johnston says, “transcends the everyday.”
“This is a completely new experience for New Zealand audiences, at the cutting edge of technology and immersive art practice,” she says. “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.”
You can also opt to go further with an additional 25-minute virtual reality experience that takes them even deeper into Evolver, a large-scale video installation described by one visitor as “mind-blowingly fabulous.”
Te Papa Māori co-leader Dr Arapata Hakiwai says the exhibition offers a uniquely Aotearoa-centred lens on our relationship with the natural world. “As we say in te ao Māori: ko au, ko te taiao, ko te taiao, ko au – I am nature, nature is me. This beautiful, awe-inspiring journey allows people to connect to a deep understanding of the natural world, and our place within it.”
For Marshmallow Laser Feast, whose work has appeared everywhere from the Saatchi Gallery to the Sundance Film Festival, the project celebrates the wonder of being alive. “This exhibition is a celebration of being alive and explores our continued fascination with what sits just outside the reach of our senses,” they say. “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.”
Alongside the exhibition, Te Papa will host the Breathe | Mauri Ora Events Season, a series of ticketed and free experiences from opening celebrations and panel talks to immersive dining events, well-being sessions and a whānau day.
ACMI Director and CEO Seb Chan says the exhibition captured the hearts of Melbourne audiences. “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.”
Breathe | Mauri Ora: An Immersive Journey into Nature runs at Te Papa from 13 December 2025 to 27 April 2026. Tickets ($30 adults) and event bookings are now available – click here!