Melbourne based artists Brienna Macnish, Clare McCracken and Robert Jordan have been developing the project over twelve months.

They’ve been interviewing older Launceston residents living in retirement villages about their experience of moving out of their home into a village. 

“We have been surprised throughout the process ... There’s been lots of surprises about exactly what that process means to people and what they get from it,” Ms McCracken said. 

The audience will listen to these interviews through headsets while exploring a visual design space, hidden with nooks, crannies and surprises all waiting to be explored.

“It's a multisensory experience,” Ms McCracken said. 

The project starts a conversation about how the world will look with an ageing population. Ms Macnish said Australia’s transforming population has inflamed some fierce debates. 

“By 2065 one quarter of the Australian population will be over the age of 65,” she said. “The voices often absent from the debate are those of older people themselves.”

The immersive experience of the VILLAGE installation is putting the voices of the elderly front and centre, showcasing their experience in an engaging audio-visual format. 

VILLAGE will be on at set times during the evenings of Junction Arts Festival, which is on from September 7 to 11 in Launceston. Ticket bookings are open now on the Junction website.