Timeless Uluru and the Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

Uluru in a Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

Uluru in a Field of Light
That eternal ancient rock in the middle of Australia seems to rise from a sea of ephemeral, ever-changing lights.

When I was a child, one of my favourite Christmas activities was to get into the car at night, wrapped up in blankets against the cold, and drive out to the more affluent suburbs and gaze in wonder at the elaborate displays of festive lights. These lights were especially magical against the winter snows.

It was customary – almost obligatory – that every house be decorated from mid-November through early January, and it was only the lazy householder who didn’t take the lights down and store them carefully between seasons! Those were the days before LED lighting: every string could be rendered dark by a single blown bulb, and every bulb was expensive. At our house, a single strand followed the roof gutters of our bungalow, but in the “rich end” of town, neighbours competed for the best displays – the most spectacular of which made it into the local newspapers. Some of the lights even blinked on and off in unison! Santa Clauses and lawn snowmen were not uncommon, and I even recall the occasional manger scenes, complete with live donkeys.

These days, with LED faerie lights and solar power, garden lighting is not necessarily reserved for Christmas – but it was those nights with my nose pressed to a cold, foggy car window that I though of as I watched more than 50,000 coloured lights slowly come to life in a large field near Uluru, the geographical middle and spiritual heart of Australia.

Even without the lights, that distinctive 500 million year-old monolith, rising up out of the flat plains in the Northern Territory’s Red Centre, was enough to make the hairs on my neck stand up. It was exactly that incredible feeling of energy surrounding this sacred rock that inspired the English/Australian artist Bruce Munro with the idea for the ambitious Field of Light immersive installation. First opened to the public on April 1, 2016, the network of frosted glass bulbs and the optical fibres radiating from them, covers an area “the size of nine football fields” – or four, depending on whom you read, or your code of football I guess.

Although the installation was meant to be temporary, after critical acclaim and popular response, it has been extended more than once: it is currently slated to close on 31 December 2021 – but who knows? 

Jetstar A320 on the Tarmac, Sydney Domestic Airport Australia

Jetstar A320 on the Tarmac
It is a big country: the flight from Sydney to Yulara takes three and a half hours. In a year of fires, floods, and Covid-19 lock-down, it felt exciting to be going anywhere! (iPhone6)

Uluru in the distance through a bus window, Yulara NT Australia

Uluru from the Transfer Bus
The short bus ride from the Connellan Airport to the Ayers Rock Resort complex takes 8 1/2 minutes “except in rush hour” the driver told us. I was so overwhelmed by my first sighting of the rock that I almost cried! (iPhone6)

Uluru and an unlit Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

Sunset over the Rock
Later in the evening, we are welcomed to a viewing area with Indigenous-inspired bush-tucker canapés and sparkling wine. Those spindly-looking trees amongst the spinifex grass humps are desert oaks (allocasuarina decaisneana).

Uluru and an unlit Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

Evening at the Rock
I had packed my tripod just for this: sunset over the rock, with the unlit globes white, like tiny mushrooms in the foreground.

Uluru and an unlit Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

Last Light over Uluru
The colours of the landscape change from one minute to the next.

People silhouetted against a NT sky, Australia

Watching the Rock
Even with soft chatter, there is a feeling of quiet as the sun goes down. It is windy – and colder than I expected.

Uluru and a partially lit Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

Lights coming On
As the ambient light recedes, the bulbs in the field come to life.

Uluru in a Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

Field of Light
Munro calls this exhibition Tili Wiru Tjuta Nyakutjaku, which means ‘looking at lots of beautiful lights’ in the local Pitjantjatjara language.

In the Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

In the Field
Soon, Uluru disappears completely, and we follow guide lighting down to the installation itself.

Pathway into the Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

Light the Way
The paths are clearly marked and easy to follow, …

Guide Light,Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

Guide Light
… and the guide lamps are beautiful in their own right.

Green light globe, Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

Lights in the Field
Watching the undulating waves of colour change across the field …

Blue light globe, Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

The Blues
… is just mesmerising.

In the Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

Arteries of Light

In the Field of Light, Yulara NT Australia

Leading Lights
The network of optical fibre connections seem to pulsate as the changing colours flow through them.

Until next time:

Pictures: 23October2020

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