Nourishing Cultures: 𝙏𝘼𝙆𝙀𝘼𝙒𝘼𝙔 Public Program

Grab a seat on Saturday 17 October as we journey by bus to explore food cultivation, regenerative farming, and edible archiving across Country and Global Diaspora. Connect with food growers, cultural bearers, cooks, and artists across for a day of tasting, food demos, truth-telling, and cultural knowledge-sharing.

Held as part of the TAKEAWAY exhibition at Canberra Contemporary, this roving public program will feature:

• A curated tour of Capital Region Farmers Markets with food producer, writer, and researcher Lauren Carroll Harris to connect with growers and highlight local agricultural and biological food ecosystems;

• Traditional Syrian communal breakfast and Fatteh & Halawet el Jibn demo with chef and culinary teacher Racha Abou Alchamat (aka Racha Syrian Kitchen) at Canberra Contemporary to celebrate Syrian eating practices and meal-sharing as collective nourishment;

• TAKEAWAY exhibition floor talk with artist Marley Dawson and curators Mariam Ella Arcilla & Denise Thwaites at Canberra Contemporary to explore themes and creative processes behind the works on show;

• Interactive knowledge-sharing and tasting session with Ngunnawal Kamilaroi custodian Richie Allan featuring taste samples of locally-sourced Ngunnawal bush foods, native energy drinks, bread, and tea.

• Stopover at Majura Valley Farm to connect with growers to learn the history of the Farm and explore their local shop.

• TAKEAWAY snack-net featuring hand-picked items by Magenta House

• Due to the cultural nature of this event, we're unable to accommodate major dietary and allergen requests. Thanks for understanding! For any queries pls contact housekeeper@magentahouse.com.au.

• Spots are limited due to the roving nature of this program.

• The tour will start at 8:00am sharp at 1:30pm Capital Region Farmers Markets in Exhibition Park in Canberra, Flemington Rd, Mitchell ACT and will end at this venue.

This Flavour Freeways event is part of the 𝙏𝘼𝙆𝙀𝘼𝙒𝘼𝙔 exhibition on show at Canberra Contemporary from 12 September - 24 October 2026, and is presented as part of the 6th Canberra Art Biennial. This exhibition has received funding support from Creative Australia and the University of Canberra.

Image: Racha Syrian Kitchen; courtesy Welcome Merchant

Richie Allan is a Ngunnawal Kamilaroi custodian who was born in Ngunnawal Country and raised on both Ngunnawal and Kamilaroi Country. Richie is the cultural director of Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, where he manages cultural awareness, education and Ngunnawal relationships. He is a Ngunnawal expert and provides valuable advice to organisations on culture and creating safe workplaces for Aboriginal people to thrive in. Richie's artwork has been commissioned across Canberra, and he has worked with musicians across the country including The Wiggles and The Griffyn Ensemble.

Racha Syrian Kitchen is run by Racha Abou Alchamat and is a culinary venture dedicated to sharing the rich flavours, traditions, and stories of Syrian cuisine with the Australian community. Born and raised in Syria, Racha learned to cook from her father — a chef and restaurant owner — and from generations of family recipes passed down with love. Since moving to Australia, she has proudly become one of the first Syrians to introduce and educate Australians about authentic Syrian food. Through her cooking classes, catering, and public events, Racha blends food with storytelling, offering a taste of home while fostering cultural understanding and connection. Racha’s Syrian Kitchen has been featured on SBS Food, The Guardian, and The Cook Up with Adam Liaw. Her work is driven by a vision of using food as a bridge between cultures — inviting people to gather, cook, share, and celebrate together. Whether in an intimate kitchen class, a vibrant festival, or a corporate team-building session, Racha brings warmth, authenticity, and a deep passion for showcasing the beauty of Syrian hospitality — one dish at a time.

Lauren Carroll Harris writes about culture and ideas. She has a PhD in film studies, worked previously as a casual academic and researcher, and was a broadcaster and producer at ABC Radio National. She was the co-founder of the digital art platform Prototype. Her debut book of nonfiction We Don't Belong to Ourselves will be published through Ultimo Press in 2027. She makes her home in the Yass Valley.

Marley Dawson uses chemistry, mechanics and construction techniques to create sculptures and installations that highlight aspects of our world and selves that can be uncanny, surreal and extraordinary. Dawson has been exhibiting extensively for over a decade inside Australia and internationally. Recent solo exhibitions include: Public Furniture, Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney, 2018; Construction (Barangaroo), Barangaroo, Sydney, 2016; Gravity (and Wonder); Palethorp, Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney (2016), Construction (T Street NW), 5x5 Project, Washington DC (2014), Marley Dawson (performance), Kreeger Museum, Washington DC (2014); and Statics and Dynamics, HEMPHILL Fine Arts, Washington DC (2014). In 2023 he received the Fauvette Loureiro Memorial Scholarship from Sydney College of the Arts (SCA), and worked closely with the Wiradjuri community in Albury to deliver the major public art commission Bungambrawatha, on the shores of the Murray River.  

Denise Thwaites is a Kamberri-based arts curator, writer and researcher of Uyghur and British descent, whose transdisciplinary, collaborative practice explores the hybrid materials of networked life. She has co-curated exhibition projects for Artspace Ideas Platform (Sydney), Next Wave Festival (Melbourne), Firstdraft (Sydney), This Is Not Art Festival (Newcastle), New Beginnings Refugee Culture and Arts Festival (Sydney) and Haig Park Experiments (Canberra). She has co-curated live art events for international programs such as NOVA_XX Biennial at Centre Wallonie Bruxelles (Paris, FR) and the Institute of Network Cultures (Amsterdam, NL). Her writing on art, technology and radical economies has been published in Kunstlicht, Runway Journal of Experimental Art, Performance Paradigm, Artlink, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, Cordite Poetry Review and Meniscus Literary Journal and in publications by the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Newcastle Art Gallery and Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation. Since 2023, Denise has been a Senior Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Arts at University of Canberra, having previously worked at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, National Art School Sydney and University of New South Wales. 

Mariam Ella Arcilla is a Filipina-Singaporean creative producer, writer, and organiser based on Gadigal land. She runs Magenta House: a gathering and knowledge-sharing space that stages culturally-vital programs exploring the caretaking synergies between art, food, communing and experimental practices. Programs come alive through workshops, test kitchens, talks, art pop-ups, a shop, open-access reading sessions, and community partnerships. Alongside this, Mariam works with global collectives and institutions to cultivate projects and resources across artspaces, governments, galleries, publications, and hospitality venues. She has staged various community-engaged projects with Arts House, Bang-On, 4A Centre of Contemporary Asian Art, Institute of Modern Art, and Parramatta Artists Studios. She was a Founding Co-Director of Gold Coast-based initiatives tinygold and Miami Marketta; and served as Co-Chair/Digital Producer/Editor at Runway Journal. As an arts practitioner, Mariam has presented projects on cultural convening and gastropoetics for Saluhan, Welcome Merchant, OuterSpace, Electrofringe, Firstdraft, Liquid Architecture, Canberra Contemporary, and Powerhouse. Growing up in a family of artists and cooks in Quezon City inspired Mariam to carve out a career in creative hospitality—oscillating between hosting, food marketing, waitressing, recipe-making and producing interactive arts experiences across Australia, the Philippines, and the UK. Mariam is an avid snacker with treats in her pockets at all time.