How MCA delivered immersive audio for King Dingo at Vivid Sydney 2025

Turning public art into a personal experience

As part of Vivid Sydney 2025, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) transformed its iconic harborfront façade into a monumental projection of King Dingo, a work by Western Aranda artist Vincent Namatjira.

The projection was accompanied by an original score composed by Namatjira and Indulkana-based guitarist-composer Jeremy Whiskey, blending music, sound effects, and narration to bring additional depth to the work.

To elevate the experience further (especially in the busy Circular Quay environment), MCA turned to Event Sync.

With Event Sync, every visitor carried a personal sound system in their pocket, whether standing directly under the projection, watching from across the harbor, or tuning in from home.

Immersive audio, instantly accessible

Onsite, loudspeakers delivered the soundtrack for visitors gathered on the MCA lawn. But Event Sync offered an additional listening option: visitors could simply scan a QR code and launch the synchronized audio instantly in their mobile browser, with no native app download required.

Using their headphones, visitors were able to block out surrounding noise and experience the soundtrack more immersively, hearing the artist’s narration and rock-and-roll score perfectly in perfect sync with the massive projection.

Extending MCA’s digital offering with Event Sync

MCA has long championed the use of digital tools to enhance how visitors engage with contemporary art. Event Sync provided a natural extension of this approach, offering a new way for audiences to experience King Dingo while building on the museum’s existing digital capabilities.

Visitors could access the synchronized audio directly via QR codes onsite, or simply follow a link from MCA’s Empower mobile guide on mca.art. This allowed audiences to move easily between MCA’s regular mobile content and the Vivid Sydney projection, delivering a consistent digital experience across both the festival and the broader museum visit.

"The MCA consistently pushes the boundaries of how contemporary art is experienced, and we’re grateful to support their ongoing exploration of digital tools that elevate and expand audience connection."

— Andi Mastrosavas, CEO, Pladia

Adding context beyond the soundtrack

Alongside the synchronized audio, Event Sync provided access to supporting content, including the artist and curatorial statements. This gave visitors deeper insight into Namatjira’s emotional narrative of Indigenous strength, pride, and his call for greater respect and recognition of Aboriginal culture and Country in Australia.

"Event Sync added another layer to the energetic projection of King Dingo presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia. The synchronised audio, along with artist and curatorial statements, gave visitors a richer understanding of Namatjira’s powerful statement around Aboriginal strength, pride and resilience. Event Sync created a dedicated digital touchpoint that gave visitors the opportunity to connect - in real time – with the story behind the artwork. This feature enhanced visitor engagement and contributed to meaningful artwork interpretation."

— Rebecca Ray, Curator, First Nations Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia

By combining audio, contextual content, and flexible access, Event Sync helped MCA deepen engagement while keeping the focus on the artwork and its message.

Integrating Event Sync into an established show control setup

The decision to add Event Sync to King Dingo came as an opportunity to elevate the experience without introducing additional complexity. With projection and show control already configured, the technical team from Technical Direction Company (TDC) needed a solution that could be deployed quickly and fit cleanly into the existing setup.

We designed Event Sync with this exact scenario in mind. Deployment can be achieved on the same day as procurement, without the need for extensive configuration.

Event Sync supports multiple integration options depending on the production environment. For King Dingo, the TDC team chose to use our UDP integration. Our Electron app ran passively on a dedicated device connected to the show network via Ethernet. Once logged in, the app listened for UDP broadcast messages sent from the Disguise media server. For each loop of the soundtrack, Disguise was configured to send a simple UDP trigger generated by the Event Sync Console.

Once connected, Event Sync ran automatically throughout the festival run without impacting show control or introducing ongoing operational tasks.

Ready to bring synchronized audio to your next event?

‍Event Sync is purpose-built for cultural festivals, public art, and events delivering immersive, synchronized experiences with minimal operational complexity for the production team.

Book a demo with our team if you'd like to see it in action, or send us an email if you have any questions: hello@pladia.io