𝙏𝘼𝙆𝙀𝘼𝙒𝘼𝙔 Exhibition Talk + First Nations Food Stories

Open the lid on TAKEAWAY! Join us at Canberra Contemporary for a free exhibition talk with curators Denise Thwaites and Mariam Ella Arcilla and artist Marley Dawson. Delve into the themes and creative process behind 𝙏𝘼𝙆𝙀𝘼𝙒𝘼𝙔: Tales from the Flavour Superhighway: a group show featuring newly-commissioned and seminal works by Marley Dawson, Keg de Souza, Gianna Christella Hayes, Gillian Kayrooz, Zora Pang, Janhavi Salvi, and James Tylor.

Afterwards, enjoy an interactive knowledge-sharing and tasting session with Ngunnawal Kamilaroi custodian Richie Allan. Learn about First Nations food practices and cultivation while sampling locally-sourced Ngunnawal bush foods, taste samples of bread, tea and native energy drinks.

Registrations are essential for catering purposes. Due to the cultural nature of this event, we are unable to accommodate dietary and allergen requests. For any queries pls contact housekeeper@magentahouse.com.au. 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 project was created in partnership with Magenta House, and has received funding support from Creative Australia and the University of Canberra.

Biographies

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.

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.