MPARNTWE: WHEN YOU COME TO ANOTHER COUNTRY - event wrap by Ian Sercombe
Alice Springs, 11th-13th september 2025.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY tom roe, with additional images from Andrea Nixon, Tony Rowly and Michel Greenhalgh along with an illustration by Ian Sercombe
The energy had started building in the days leading up to the RAA Mparntwe event. Each time I looked at the group chat someone had radioed in.
Boorloo: Team WA just departed Bunbury (in their own plane!)
Worimi and Awabakal Country: Team QF790 flight delayed, but turned into an impromptu RAA meeting
Yuin Country: On our way along the edge of the Simpson Desert
Boorloo (again): Refuelled Warby. Next stop Alice.
Ngunnawal: 300km to go
L-R Andrea Nixon’s view from QF790, Tony Rowley’s mode of transport and Michel Greenhalgh and Joseph D’Agostino flying themselves in from the West.
People were enroute from about 40 different countries, from all states and territories, primarily travelling from all around the periphery of this vast land, gathering in its centre. It was starting to feel more like a pilgrimage, where like-minded souls would converge, meeting in the sacred heart, perhaps near to the spiritual capital of this continent.
A group of us were 10,000m up in the air watching the ever-thinning green giving way to red sands. We swung around over Pine Gap, pondering the large white balls of the 5 Eyes, before stepping into the dry heat of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). We followed the captivating forms of the Stuart Highway Fence to the town centre.
Delegates gathered at Akeyulerre Healing Centre, photo by Tom Roe
In the thoughtfully crafted Akeyulerre Healing Centre, Benedict and Leo welcomed us to Arrente Country. Here we learned of the works of the Ngangkari (healers) and healing through plants and energy. We visited their apothecary, seeing and smelling the natural ingredients of their medicines. I sensed the Ngangkari would be important to us and the future of this place.
Leo’s words moved to respect: for the land and for each other, irrespective of the paths that brought us here. Take care of Country and it will take care of us.
Blackfella, whitefella
It doesn't matter what your colour
As long as you a real fella
Before leaving Akeyulerre, the local knowledge holders charged us with listening. Listening to the knowledge of the Elders and listening to Country. This was the event’s provocation, and would resurface many times in the following days.
Sunrise walk at Olive Pink Botanic Garden, photo by Tom Roe
Landscape was an important ingredient in this RAA event, which had us start and finish our journey immersed in it. The formal gathering began with a pre-dawn talk and walk up Tharrarletneme at the Olive Pink Botanic Gardens to understand the flora, meet the rock wallabies and euros and see the sunrise. The cool, clear morning very quickly had us connected to Country and set the tone for the coming days. On this land all time intersects.
Out here nothing changes, not in a hurry anyway,
You can feel the endlessness with the coming of the light of day
Flynn Memorial Uniting Church, photo by Tom Roe
Mparntwe
When you come to another country (the subtitle for the event).
The primary venue for the event was the Flynn Memorial Uniting Church, right in the middle of the town. Now it really was feeling like a pilgrimage.
Arrernte Elder Kumalie Riley Kngwarraye, photo by Tom Roe
Werte!
Kumalie, a local knowledge holder and a master and teacher of language, officially welcomed us from the pulpit, commencing the formal talks. We are here to listen. Kumalie imparted her knowledge on cultural protocols, cultural awareness and respect for Country. Her passion was evident.
Vanessa Napaltjari Davis of Tangentyere Council with Michael Klerck (left) and Tonielle Dempers (right), photo by Tom Roe
Many of the local knowledge holders who spoke, particularly Vanessa and Kumalie, talked about navigating the cross-cultural intersections of identity, health, education and service. The white fella speakers spoke about how they, too, navigate this.
Now two rivers run their course
Separated for so long
I'm dreaming of a brighter day
When the waters will be one
Treaty
James B. Young & Elliat Rich, photo by Tom Roe
James & Elliat’s Camel Wagon being repurposed for Pech Kucha presentations during Friday dinner, Tim Blakeway of Cumulus Studio pictured, photo by Tom Roe
Connecting with Country brings so many powerful benefits. Letting go of 21st century trappings isn’t easy, until you take a camel, a donkey and a hand crafted wagon across the desert. This modus operandi of being so immersed in the landscape shapes the works and the lives of Elliat and James. The hand crafted wagon later morphed into a cinema screen, featuring Pecha Kucha presentations on Deadly Denim, NT water security, Cumulus’ creations, healthy habitats and desert inspirations from wandering Country. Billy Bones played a painted guitar. We feasted under the Milky Way until the dark emu started to disappear. Everything was intersecting at once. Perhaps via the mycelium?
The longer we’re here the deeper our connection becomes, the more we notice. Two days already feels like a week, but in a good way. We start to see the great caterpillars marching east west across Toritja.
This area is labelled the ‘outback’. But I was feeling more ‘in centre’. Our speakers and creative directors were revealing the wealth of magic and resources the centre provides. We just need to listen. The missionaries, mercenaries and misfits were out back, the Arrente were in centre.
Troy Casey of Blaklash, photo by Tom Roe
Troy, who flew in on the Magpie Goose from Meanjin, told us it always starts with a conversation. Over the days, Marni, Trent, Miriam and Sue demonstrated what wonderful work can be procured when we listen. Outside in the dry heat were the rumblings and calls in 5 distinct language groups, floating through on the Mparntwe zephyrs, like they have forever. Part of the soundtrack.
The systemic invisibility is astonishing. Michael, expanding on Vanessa’s local knowledge, lead us through the bureaucratic mayhem. White man isn’t seeing or listening to the people who have walked this land for eternity. By destroying and polluting country white fellas have compromised health and culture.
How can architecture heal? More listening. David Donald has been doing that through Healthabitat. Fundamentals that have been lost or denied to fellow humans. We are nothing without our health.
My name is Yami Lester
I hear, I talk, I touch but I am blind
My story comes from darkness
Listen to my story now unwind
This is a rainy land
If we listen to Country we can hear its screams. The changing weather patterns are a result of not listening to and not caring for Country. The capitalist piles of car wrecks, plastics, radioactive waste and asbestos tailings the mercenaries have littered across Country should serve as auguries of what is to come, but still we’re not listening. Take care of Country and it will take care of us
8 Hele Cres, photo by Tom Roe
Hele Crescent revealed the beauty that can emerge when discarded objects are reborn as art or sculpture. And the Desert Mob opening featured artwork on objects found on Country. Sadly most waste on Country is unusable and harmful.
The presentations from the pulpit were powerful. But the spaces in between also brought so much inspiration. This is where the conversations continued, and creative minds bantered over ways to tackle the amazing content being delivered. This is what RAA events do. This face to face connection is so powerful. The collegiate nature of us disparate mob, meeting 3 times a year to talk everything from social needs to the built form and who is going to win the footy.
Lucky Country
Where the geckos are paid to live in the sun
As architects we assemble people around us to inform the works we’re creating. Engineers, bureaucracies, trades, suppliers and clients. RAA events regularly get a mix of all to inform and inspire us. The technical supporters are knowledgeable and engaging and enjoy being included on the ride.
In small communities we have agency and responsibility- something many in the room would understand.
City lights, the sound too much for my mind
But the quiet the nature sound, now that is mine
Live it, breath it, represent, let it shine before the end of time
L-R Mrs Smith and Julia Burke of the Ngangkari Program, Uti Kulintjaku, NPY Women’s Council, photo by Tom Roe
Mrs Smith of the Ngangkari Program, Uti Kulintjaku, NPY Women’s Council, photo by Tom Roe, illustration by Ian Sercombe
The Ngangkari reappeared to lead us through a meditation, quieting our minds, giving us space to process all we had heard. Bird sounds moved through the space. We were thoroughly connected.
The team of creative directors, L-R Tonielle Dempers, Owen Kelly and Bobbie Bayley, photo by Tom Roe
Djapana. The end of our Mparntwe event journey set in the landscape of Kwarta Tuma. Swimming the waterhole, more stories shared and a backdrop of music as we shut our eyes beneath the massive sky.
Thank you so much to the creative directors and RAA team for all the brilliant work that went into delivering this program.
Music references:
Treaty - Yothu Yindi
Black Fella White Fella - Warumpi Band
Solid Rock - Goanna
Maralinga (Rainy Land) - Paul Kelly
Lucky Country - Midnight Oil
Marryuna - Baker Boy
Bird Sounds - Hollis Taylor
RAA would like to thank the major sponsors Stratco Architectural Solutions, Architectural Window Systems (AWS), Susan Dugdale & Associates, Bondor Metecno and Allegion for their commitment to making this important event a reality. RAA wishes to acknowledge the AIA for their facilitation of Bondor Metecno and Allegion’s sponsorship of the event.
To become a member of RAA, join via the website or sign up to receive regular updates about our events and programs - and perhaps consider membership in the future.
