Some of the lighting and other visual effects in Terra Lumina.
Australia is on fire, and before that Brazil, and before that California, and before that… meanwhile, the polar bears are running out of habitat, and the oceans are running out of oxygen.
In the midst of all this bleakness, a cultural artifact that imagines a future where climate change has been set in reverse seems wildly, refreshingly audacious.
That’s what the Terra Lumina experience at the Toronto Zoo offers. The premise is simple: imagine that by the year 2099, humanity has successfully learned to live non-destructively with the Earth. The global ecosystem has been rebalanced. All of the endangered species which survived the transition are not only no longer endangered, but thriving.
And so are the world’s people. As a gift to those who took the first steps in the path to a healthy Earth, they have constructed a time portal so that we can see a little bit of their present. Our future.
I’ve noticed when I’ve been trying to describe Terra Lumina to friends, I have to make the point that it is not a show, not a ride, not a sequential narrative. It’s an immersive experience, and it succeeds because it knows when to stop. The lights, music, sound effects, and the (minimal) messaging all have been carefully selected to work together without overwhelming the visitors. You’re not going to “miss something” if you get distracted for a moment.
Projected, animated wolves howling at a future moon.
Entrance to the experience is time-based (you have to choose a time when you order tickets), but not strictly so. It’s just to make sure people move through the experience in a steady stream and that things don’t get too crowded. You can take as long as you like once you pass the entrance.
Once you make it through the ticket gate, you wait in an area that sort of feels like an outdoor airport departure lounge. Recordings synched with animated displays on signs encourage you to savour the present moment, enjoy the complementary warming stations, and tell you a little bit about what life is like in 2099.
Oh, and please get rid of any disposable plastics before you go through the time portal. Those aren’t accepted in the future.
The key with experiences like this is to suspend the visitors’ disbelief just enough that they’ll buy the premise and give the content a chance to work its magic. Terra Lumina accomplishes this through careful sound design, and through the way the beginning is set up. The waiting area is a familiar experience trope, and then the portal itself is very effective. It really does feel as if you’re stepping into another dimension.
Crowds of visitors approaching the “time travel portal” which leads to the main experience.
Last time I looked at the Toronto Zoo’s web site, it said tickets were available until April. Go see.