The Rite of Ten Winds explores the natural and human-made processes of greenhouse gas removal through story, symbolism, and ritual.
Created by artist Yambe Tam, The Rite of Ten Winds is a new interactive VR experience rooted within an unfolding dialogue around the climate crisis, natural processes of greenhouse gas removal (GGR), and the technologies that seek to expedite these processes. Toggling across scales, technologies, and temporalities, it critically examines contemporary GGR projects that are undergoing research and development in the UK.
What is greenhouse gas removal?
Greenhouse Gas Removal means taking greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide out of the air to help slow down climate change. Some forms of GGR happen naturally, such as when trees, plants, soil, peatlands, or oceans absorb carbon as they grow and change over time. Other forms use technologies to speed up or support these natural processes, for example by capturing carbon from the atmosphere or turning plant waste into materials that store carbon safely.
Find out more at CO2RE: The Greenhouse Gas Removal Hub.
This speculative future imagines a symbiosis between science and spirituality, nature and technology. These new relationships unfold through a series of five communal purification rituals, drawing inspiration from Zen Buddhist and Shinto practices where nature is a cultural force that reframes how we inhabit and protect the natural world.
The Rite of Ten Winds by Yambe Tam (2026)
Each ritual examines the key role of the more-than-human in GGR across five different virtual environments: a basalt stone circle, a raceway pool, a pyrolysis chamber, a peatland cauldron hole, and an AI-plotted woodland. Through ceremonial experiences, slower natural rhythms are compressed into faster technological timescales, accelerating the activities of algae, bacteria, fungi, crops, trees, and rocks. Participants gather together to enact these new ways of interacting with the land through acts of creation, destruction, and renewal.
These rituals are positioned as part of a crucial cultural shift, which imagines how sacred places and practices can reorient human motivations toward long term ecological stewardship. They propose a future where the biosphere and technosphere converge to reawaken a lost kinship with the earth and combat the climate crisis.
Dates and times
Thursday 16 – Tuesday 28 April 2026
- Open Tuesday–Saturday, 12–5PM
- Closed on Sunday–Monday
Book a ticketed timeslot to guarantee a chance to try the VR experience.
Drop-ins are welcome. Bear in mind that during busy periods there may be a short wait for a headset to become available.
What to expect
No experience of Virtual Reality necessary.
This is a seated VR experience viewed using Meta Quest virtual reality headsets, with some interactions requiring the use of a hand-held controller. Broadway staff and volunteers will be present to support you. Alternative control options are available for individuals with no use of one or both hands.
You do not have to view the experience using a virtual reality headset.
The project can be viewed on TV screens in the Gallery.
Capacity
Up to 3 people will be able to view the work in virtual reality at a time.
During busy periods there may be a short wait for a headset to become available.
Duration
Allow for approximately 1 hour to view the full experience.
You are welcome to stop the experience and leave at any time.
An additional short tutorial (approx. duration 15 minutes) on using Meta Quest Touch controllers for interaction in virtual reality experiences is available.
Content
This event is suitable for ages 10+. Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult.
Please read Meta Quest's safety information for parents and preteens for guidance on allowing children to take part in virtual/mixed reality activities.
Credits
Artist: Yambe Tam
Software Development: Albert Barbu
Music Composition: Dr. Seán Clancy
This project is commissioned by the UK Greenhouse Gas Removal Hub (CO2RE) - a consortium of six leading UK universities led by University of Oxford, supported by the Natural Environment Research Council.
With thanks to Natasha Matirosian, Mikal Mast, Emily Cracknell, and Paul Rouse.
Research Consultants:
Dr. David Beerling FRS FLSW, University of Sheffield
Jonny Ritson, University of Manchester
Lucas Coppens, Imperial College London
Dr. Rodrigo Lesdama Amaro, Imperial College London
Dr. Judith Thornton, University of Aberystwyth
Colin Snape FRSE, University of Nottingham
