Published on Friday, 4 September 2026 at 3:14:26 PM
Albany’s landscapes will be viewed across billions of years of history in Numen, an immersive art science experience opening at Albany Town Hall as part of the Albany 2026 program.
Created by Albany-based media artist Peter Morse, with an original musical score by Western Australian composers Glenn Rogers and Steve Richter, Numen is a multimedia song cycle exploring the origins, climate and landscapes of Albany and the Great Southern.
The work combines computer visualisations of climate and geophysical simulations, satellite data and data-driven animation to journey across extraordinary scales of time and space.
Presented across three large screens, six audiovisual compositions journey from the formation of the solar system and early life through Deep Time evolution of landscape and into imagined futures.
Mayor of Albany Greg Stocks said Numen offered audiences a unique opportunity to experience the Albany landscape from an entirely different perspective.
“Albany 2026 has provided an opportunity to explore the many layers of our place and the stories that have shaped it, and Numen takes that exploration to an extraordinary scale,” he said.
“Bringing together art, science, technology and culture, this work encourages us to consider the landscape we know today as part of a much bigger story stretching billions of years into the past and future.”
The work also situates Menang-Noongar language and the six Noongar seasons of Birak, Bunuru, Djeran, Makuru, Djilba and Kambarang alongside contemporary scientific understandings of Country.
Artist Peter Morse said the work was designed to encourage audiences to slow down and experience the landscape rather than simply observe it.
“Numen is about seeing this place from geological and climatic change to the seasonal rhythms experienced in the landscape today,” he said.
“The three screens create a space you can move through and inhabit. There is no correct place to stand or particular moment you need to catch; audiences are invited to spend time with the work and allow the landscape to unfold around them.”
Numen will be presented at Albany Town Hall as part of the Albany 2026 program from September 17 to October 14, with daily screenings at 10.30am, 1pm and 3.30pm.
Capacity is limited for each session, with tickets available for a small fee online at https://albanyevents.bookable.net.au/#!/ or at the door, subject to availability.
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