Related Post
Countdown to Parrtjima 2025 begins
The countdown to Australia’s biggest Aboriginal light festival has begun, with Parrtjima – A Festival in Light, set to return to Alice Springs (Mparntwe) for its milestone 10th edition from April 4.
As the only Aboriginal light festival of its kind, Parrtjima 2025 will feature the works of more than 20 First Nations artists across six installations, alongside more than 100 performers and special guests spanning music, comedy, art, workshops, and talks – all set against the breathtaking backdrop of the 300-million-year-old MacDonnell Ranges.
“Parrtjima – A Festival in Light provides a powerful opportunity to engage with Aboriginal culture, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation that can be shared with the world,” Northern Territory Major Events Company, Interim CEO, Trevor Cox, said.
“The program not only entertains but challenges visitors to reflect on the profound impact of Aboriginal culture, right in the heart of Australia.”
The free, 10-night, all-ages festival will showcase the much-loved MacDonnell Ranges Light Show and Grounded installations, four new installations by Aboriginal artists, as well as workshops, Blak markets, talks, standup comedy, and raft of music acts including Troy Cassar-Daley and an open-air performance by the Darwin Symphony Orchestra.
Parrtjima 2025 will feature four stunning new installations by award-winning and emerging Aboriginal artists that celebrate cultural continuity and storytelling, all inspired by this year’s festival theme, ‘Timelessness’.
Three Generations of Station Women by Balanggarra and Yolŋu artist Molly Hunt pays tribute to the resilience and strength of three generations of Aboriginal stockwomen in an animated comic strip. This cinematic experience will be enriched by an original soundtrack composed by Australian actor Mark Coles Smith.
Hypnotic Reverberations will immerse visitors in Bobby West Tjupurrula’s Country, where beams of light dance through mist and reflect across a shallow pool, forming ever-shifting dreamscapes that evoke the spirit of the land. Bobby West Tjupurrula won the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2011 and is son of Freddy West Tjupurrula, one of the original shareholders of Papunya Tula Artists.
Artist Molly Hunt.
Transforming Light and Country invites festival goers to engage with Lyall Giles’ intricate sand dune patterns.
By activating drums, guests will trigger dynamic rings of light and immersive natural soundscapes, highlighting the deep connection between ancient landforms and life-giving waterholes.
Giles, an exciting and dynamic artist, is the most senior wati (man) in Tjukurla and is entrusted with preserving a vast library of stories in his head. Though he has shared these stories for many years, it is only recently that he has begun painting them.
Artist Bobby West.
“More than ever, this year we all need to experience Parrtjima, as the festival continues to shine new light on age-old traditions and fresh expressions,” Parrtjima Curator Rhoda Roberts said.
“Echoing the legacy of culture and the stories that connect us all across time. Come and feel the red earth beneath your feet as you look up at the magic that is Arrernte country as we illuminate the majestic MacDonnell Ranges.”
