New immersive museum experience dedicated to calm and wellbeing, Australian National Maritime Museum, 25 June 2026
A new immersive museum experience centred on slow looking, reflection and sensory calm.
The Australian National Maritime Museum presents Horizon Line; a new immersive space designed as a quiet sanctuary for slowing the museum experience. Developed in response to the anxiety and digital noise of modern life, the Horizon Line invites visitors to pause, settle their attention and spend time with a single artwork in a calm, sensory-friendly space.
The first iteration of Horizon Line features Ian Hansen’s 1988 painting, HMS Investigator and Le Géographe, an artwork depicting the peaceful 1802 encounter between British and French exploration ships off the southern coast of Australia.
The work, part of the National Maritime Collection, depicts a rare and historic moment – on 8 April 1802, HMS Investigator, commanded by Matthew Flinders, encountered the French ship Le Géographe, commanded by Nicolas Baudin.
Despite Britain and France being at war, the meeting was peaceful. The captains exchanged information and charts before continuing their separate journeys. The place later became known as Encounter Bay.
As the first of a series, the initiative will evolve over time, with the Museum changing the featured image between temporary exhibitions to create new experiences, new stimuli and fresh reasons for visitors to return.
The work is the only image in the space – to focus the attention of the viewer – with lighting, soundscape and seating providing the atmosphere for deliberation and thought.
Visitors will be able to shape their own experience through a series of tailored audio guides for adults, families, school students, First Nations perspectives and sight-impaired audiences. A shared journal will also invite visitors to respond in their own way through writing, drawing or reflection, which extends the experience beyond observation into personal connection.
Horizon Line also encourages visitors to reflect on the layered histories of exploration and Sea Country. Interpretation throughout the space recognises that the waters represented in the artwork were long known, named and cared for by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and positions the horizon not as the edge of the unknown, but as a place of connection. The project has also been developed with accessibility in mind, with plain English interpretation, sensory-aware design and audio description supporting a wide range of visitors.
‘Horizon Line is an invitation to pause in the middle of a busy world. It offers visitors a different kind of museum experience, one that values stillness and reflection and creating an evolving series of encounters that will encourage repeat visitation and fresh ways of seeing,’ said Nanette Louchart-Fletcher, Assistant Director.
Horizon Line is free and opened at the Australian National Maritime Museum on Thursday June 25