Coming Soon: Australian-Premiere VR Experience 'Horizon of Khufu' Will Get You Wandering Around Ancient Egypt
Who needs an overseas plane ticket, or a time machine, when you can journey 4500 years back into Egypt's history at this immersive virtual-reality experience?
Peering at ancient pyramids isn't normally an Australian pastime, but it will be come spring without needing to leave the country. In 2024, the nation's fascination with Egypt thousands of years ago has already been fuelled by Sydney exhibition Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs, which wrapped up in May — and also by Pharaoh in Melbourne, which is on display until October. Next up is Horizon of Khufu, a virtual-reality experience rather than a showcase of treasures and trinkets. You won't get up close to historical items here, but you will become immersed in the past like it's all around you.
Patrons will see the Great Pyramids of Giza, including flying over the Giza Necropolis. You'll climb to the top of the Pyramid of Khufu, in fact, and gaze out over Egypt with a 360-degree view. Getting a glimpse of burial chambers and embalming ceremonies, finding the queen's chamber, sailing down the Nile, attending Khufu's funeral: that's all also on the agenda, as is checking out the Great Sphinx of Giza and witnessing these ancient wonders by night.
That's where your eyes will be heading, at least, via a VR headset that'll take you into a shared play space. Your peepers will also be checking out recreations of sights dating back 4500 years, to the time of Khufu, the second pharaoh of Egypt's fourth dynasty. He's the figure that's believed to have commissioned the largest of the pyramids, which was also his tomb.
Your body will need to be in Sydney at the Harbour City's Fever Pavilion, where Horizon of Khufu is making its Australian debut from Thursday, September 5, 2024. There's no word yet whether the experience will then head to other Aussie cities, as some past events from entertainment platform Fever have, including its Banksy and NBA exhibitions recently.
Once they've popped on their headsets, attendees will be led through Horizon of Khufu by a virtual guide, all while benefiting from design by Egyptologist and Harvard University professor Peter Der Manuelian. If you're with your date or mates, or family, the 45-minute experience also lets you visuals others in the VR space, so you won't all just be off on your own wander through bygone years.
Australia joins France — where Horizon of Khufu debuted in 2022 — as well as the US, Canada and the UK in being able to enjoy this blast from the past. Unsurprisingly, it has proven popular around the globe, notching up more than one million visitors so far. If you've seen plenty of other Egypt obsessives at Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs and Pharaoh, you'll know that Aussies will help boost those numbers.
Horizon of Khufu will open at Fever Pavilion, Olympic Boulevard, Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney from Thursday, September 5, 2024 — with the waitlist open now and tickets on sale from Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Head to the exhibition website for more details.
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