Our Tapestry of Country was/is a mechanism for discussion and reflection. Underpinned by principles of care, coinciding with Sydney’s 2021 lockdown and introduction of the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia’s cultural competencies, each class began with all bringing an image set as their Zoom background to acknowledge and learn together about our First Nations culture and synthesis of time and being.

Together we read The Uluru Statement of the Heart and discussed the NSW Government Architect Office’s Connecting with Country Framework and Paper. We acknowledged on which Country we were on, the markings of time through traditional seasons, the Country and authors of our backgrounds; and how they engaged with the Framework principles.

We connected our “tapestry” images with our project, in which students were required to embed principles demonstrative of a nuanced understanding of Country. This brought us together while we were isolated; Connecting with Country connected us and provided

a unique experience and archive of the uncanniness of 2021. We captured each session, synthesising the semester into a graphic “tapestry”; one tactic of decolonisation within our studio.