The day before we left home, we heard about the Paartjima Light Festival that was being held in Alice Springs for 10 days only. A quick check of the calendar and discovered that the last night of the festival was the night we arrived in The Alice so it was a no brainer as to what we would be doing that night.
To quote the Paartjima web site "Parrtjima is the meeting place where old meets new. It is the only authentic Aboriginal light festival of it’s kind, showcasing the oldest continuous culture on earth through the newest technology – all on the 300-million-year-old natural canvas of the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia."
The lighting displays represented a number of cultural themes.
This Harvesting Kultcha display linked the "traditional knowledge of how women gather the honey ant across scrubland with an interactive experience for younger generations.
Children (and adults) of all ages will enjoy this fun, dynamic and interactive game of discovery inspired by the constant movement in a honey ant nest.
Flowing out from an illuminated central artwork, tracks of lights replicate the tunnels in an ant’s nest and lead to eight, larger-than-life honey ants. Jump on an activation pad and watch their honey sacs fill with light and the burrows come to life.
The artwork pays homage to the traditional knowledge of women gathering the honey ants beneath mulga trees. Using digging sticks, they dig tunnels about a metre down into the nest to extract the ants, which are then collected in coolamons."
