Following the success of their FB IDEAS-supported weaving and yarning series at Fishermans Bend, artist-curator Sarah Naarden and collaborators have secured funding from the City of Melbourne to present Weaving Stories of Change — a powerful new program celebrating five years of intercultural practice through the Turruk Community Program.
Taking place in the timber-lined auditorium of the Woods Bagot architecture studio, Weaving Stories of Change invites participants into a moving, sensory journey across film, ceremony, exhibition, and performance. Led by a compelling line-up of First Nations urban culturalists — including Stephen Thorpe, Bianca Easton, and Merilyn ‘Merm’ Duff — the event honours the delicate process of decolonising a community of practice and nurturing a culture of care.
The evening will begin with an immersive water ceremony, gathering around an emu egg and river reed centrepiece created by ikebana artist Christina Theodorou. Beneath a night sky light projection, a song acknowledging Country will be performed by Stephen Thorpe, a GunaiKurnai, Gundjitmara and Yorta Yorta man, and co-founder of Sustainative.
Participants will then be formally welcomed by Bronwyn McColl, Principal at Woods Bagot and Reconciliation Chair, who will speak to recent collaborative design projects with Indigenous leaders and organisations. Boonwurrung woman Bianca Easton will share reflections on the ceremonial centrepiece, crafted during a recent Turruk workshop.
The program continues with a yidaki healing, leading into a guided walk past Heart Spirit Home — a powerful exhibition of speculative architectural proposals reimagining Aboriginal aged care. Presented by Initiatives of Change Australia, the exhibition showcases selected works by Master of Architecture students from the University of Melbourne. A student prize will be announced on the night.
A highlight of the evening will be the premiere of Weaving Three Stories, a short documentary developed through the earlier FB IDEAS-funded project. Directed by Michael Woods of Pacific Studio, and featuring insights from Trawlwoolway woman Merilyn Merm Duff, the film captures the creative and cultural threads shared in the weaving and yarning series at Fishermans Bend.
The event will culminate in a dynamic intercultural art parade, featuring woven artefacts co-curated by Bianca Easton and Sarah Naarden, alongside paintings and cultural works by Turruk program artists including Dylan Charles, Uncle Glenn Loughrey, Merilyn Merm Duff, Bianca Easton, and Jai Allen Wright.
To mark five years of the Turruk Community Program, Sarah Naarden will present Cultivating Trust — an evocative series of black-and-white photographs that capture moments of deep listening, reciprocity, and the quiet dissolving of difference.
This event is proudly supported by Aboriginal Melbourne, City of Melbourne, Woods Bagot, the Melbourne School of Design at the University of Melbourne, Pacific Studio and Initiatives of Change Australia.
All tickets are set at concession pricing of $40 I Complimentary tickets are available for Mob.