About Birrunga Gallery

Birrunga Gallery is an Indigenous art gallery, café, and bar which offers visitors multi-sensational experiences with authentic First Nations culture in the heart of Meanjin (Brisbane) CBD - through art, music, dance, artefacts, food, tours, and classes.

The art on display is a curated and eclectic collection of various local and regional Indigenous practising artists who define their histories and stories through visual commentary.

The Challenge

The challenge was to create an immersive experience for Birrunga Gallery visitors, who often spend only a few minutes looking at each artwork without gaining a deep understanding of its meaning.

With a goal to preserve and share the history, culture, and spiritual meaning behind the artwork, the objective was to bridge the gap between traditional art forms and modern technology, whilst maintaining a great experience for visitors.

The setup and operations of the gallery created an interesting environment for any solution to work. Birrunga Gallery is located underground, where there isn’t available guest Wi-Fi, and slow and unavailable network speeds. The different events that are hosted often changed the layout of the gallery, as well as the lighting.

Any solution that we were to build, also needed to be built within a short few weeks.

"Working in partnership with the Patient Zero team has been educative, dynamic, intuitive, emotional and rewarding.

Above all it's been an ongoing process of developing genuine respectful rapport based on identifying shared values, developing astute clear active communication, identifying and adjusting deficits in Cultural understanding with respect and attention to detail.
 
In short Patient Zero are extraordinary”

Birrunga Wiradyuri

Principal Artist & Owner

Impact

The Birrunga Gallery app makes a positive impact on business performance helping the gallery to attract and engage a diverse range of visitors by inviting them to interact with and understand the artworks while championing the accuracy of sensitive information, inclusivity, and cultural sensitivity.

The app also helps to preserve the cultural heritage of the Indigenous community by ensuring that their stories and traditions are shared and passed down to future generations. These stories help to promote cultural pride, awareness, and exchange, fostering a greater understanding and respect, which benefits the wider community, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike.

Since launching in June, we have observed the average time a visitor views the artwork has changed from 5 minutes measured by observation, to an average app usage time of 21m 17s. The gallery has also seen an uplift in foot traffic and increased revenue.

Recognition & Media

• Good Design Winner 2023 - Digital Apps & Software
• Women in Digital UX Leader of the Year - Demelza Green
• ARN - Patient Zero teams up with Birrunga Gallery for augmented reality experience
• In Review - Sharing Indigenous culture … and some roast emu … in Brisbane’s CBD

"I was blown away by the works on display, and intrigued to learn the powerful stories behind the art directly from the artist, via the unique app. I found this interactive experience a wonderful way to connect with the artwork, and also build a cultural understanding for the visitor.

I am thrilled to learn the new technology will allow these stories to be preserved for all time. I have no doubt future generations will be enthralled by the rich cultural history, and the talent of these First Nations artists. I congratulate all involved in this important stewardship of younger generations of Indigenous artists.”

Nina Schrinner

Lady Mayoress