STORYBOX is a digital exhibition & insights platform for public precincts, connecting people & place
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STORYBOX builds on the power of public spaces to connect communities and inspire ideas and creative collaborations.
Custom digital products, engagement methods and evaluation tools expand the benefits of public space engagement to support purpose-driven organisations connect and engage with communities.
First launched in 2020 as a mobile, transportable digital cube designed to connect audiences to the different time-spaces of their places, the STORYBOX program has evolved over the past five years as an innovative model for digital outdoor creativity, taken up by over 50 participating partners and communities across over 25 different precincts. With a focus on audiences as citizen-storytellers, not consumers, and underpinned by innovative, multi-sector program partnerships, STORYBOX redefines how media in public spaces can engage the future of public precincts, inviting collaborative responses to the enduring natures of urban transformation.
The STORYBOX program was created by Studio ESEM in 2020 and has now reached over 25 communities through a mix of temporary, touring and long-term program partnerships. The program centres around the 'hero' digital cube that supports novel outdoor programming and interactions between cultural institutions, educational and scientific institutions, communities and artists. Additional assets and formats are supported, including digital plinths and screens, with more to come.
STORYBOX hardware assets are supported by a strategic programming model that activates connections between precinct custodians (place owners and managers) and communities of interest, from cultural organisations, to community and First Nations groups, and educational organisations.
To support impact evaluation, STORYBOX is equipped with novel tools and methodologies that capture insights into how communities experience public spaces, and how communities respond to targeted cultural and scientific programs, spanning issues such as birdlife protection, local heritage or future precinct designs. Through STORYBOX, diverse public institutions are now engaged with the potentials of public spaces to engage audiences as citizen-storytellers in shaping the shared futures of their precincts.
In October 2025 we partnered with the Office of the 24-Hour Economy Commissioner to support the 75th International Astronautical Congress through a custom STORYBOX activation in Barangaroo, where a 4 LED STORYBOX shared the work of the Australian Space Agency, while promoting the Congress to members of the Public in this vibrant city location.
STORYBOX is the winner of the 2025 Media Architecture Biennale Award for Participatory Media & Infrastructure, and the 2025 National award for Digital Interpretation at the Interpretation Australia Awards.
https://www.storybox.co/the-story
STORYBOX is a fully programmable digital exhibition platform. Operating hours are set according to the specific requirement of individual program requirements. These can be customised on a day-by-day or site specific basis.
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Cao Fei exhibition interactive activation with the Art Gallery of NSW, Darling Harbour, January 2025 Image by Studio ESEM
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Cao Fei exhibition interactive activation with the Art Gallery of NSW, Darling Harbour, January 2025 Image by Studio ESEM
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STORYBOX x NGA Partnership in Canberra, 2024 Image by Studio ESEM
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STORYBOX x UNSW Diversified program, Customs House Sydney, 2023 Image by Studio ESEM
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STORYBOX x Bangarra and Sydney Opera House activation, QVB Sydney, June 2025 Image by Annabelle Gaspar for Studio ESEM
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Birds of Australia STORYBOX launch program in the Blue Mountains, for the final site of the tour 202 Image by Studio ESEM
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Birds of Australia STORYBOX launch program in Port Macquarie, 2024 Image by Studio ESEM
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STORYBOX Asteroids multi-player game activation at Uncontained Festival, Georges River Council, 2025 Image by Studio ESEM
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STORYBOX on location Image by Studio ESEM
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STORYBOX Chair Yoga with the ABC, Sydney 2022 Image by Studio ESEM
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This page is managed by STORYBOX & Studio ESEM.
We acknowledge that we live and work on Aboriginal land and recognise the strength, resilience and capacity of First Nations Australians. We also acknowledge all of the traditional owners of the land in NSW, and pay respect to First Nations Elders, past and present.
