Palaexpo - Roma © Antonio Politano

The best view of Alice is from Anzac Hill, in the evening. On the hill sacred to the Arrerntes, who celebrate the dream of the Caterpillar here, but also to those who came later, the white people who have erected a memorial to the fallen of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps in all wars on its top. In the background, the MacDonnell Ranger ridge; around an ocean of red sand the size of Europe. Chatwin makes of Alice the heart of his two Australian stays, the basis of its trips in the Red Centre, the place where to collect information and live experiences later put in his book, establishing relationships with those who told him of the paths travelled by Aboriginal people to feed their essential relationship with the land. Founded in 1888 around the telegraph station and the well from which it takes its name (Alice was the wife of Todd, superintendent of Adelaide telegraphs), Alice Springs is a city of 25,000 people with an economy based on tourism, a network of roads between Todd River, always dry, and the Stuart Highway. A small metropolis in the vacuum, where tourists arrive and then leave again heading for the MacDonnell Ranges and Uluru. A place of passage or of the modern opportunities in the desert. In the car park a couple of internal migrants can enjoy the beauty of the sunset, eating chicken with almonds and listening at top volume to The dark side of the Moon by the Pink Floyd. They are from Perth, Western Australia, and have been travelling for two years "to see the country", stopping occasionally to earn some money. They arrived in Alice three months ago, she works at the local police post, he has part-time jobs. Still for a while, then they are going to leave again. The frontier is movable. We toast, with Coca Cola, to the tropical night

A.bc In Australia, sulle tracce di Chatwin 20 anni dopo Le Vie dei Canti Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Roma A.bc In Australia, in Chatwin's footsteps 20 years after The Songlines Palazzo Delle Esposizioni, Rome





	La migliore visione di Alice è da Anzac Hill, la sera. Sulla collina sacra agli Arrernte, che qui celebrano il Sogno del Bruco, ma anche a chi è venuto dopo, i bianchi che in cima hanno eretto un monumento ai caduti di tutte le guerre dell’Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Sullo sfondo la dorsale dei MacDonnell Ranger, attorno un oceano di sabbia rossa della grandezza dell’Europa. Chatwin fa di Alice il cuore dei suoi due soggiorni australiani, la base dei suoi spostamenti nel Red Centre, il posto dove raccoglie informazioni e vive esperienze che riversa poi nel suo libro, stabilendo relazioni con chi gli racconta dei cammini percorsi dagli aborigeni per nutrire il loro indispensabile rapporto con la terra. Nata nel 1888 attorno alla stazione telegrafica e al pozzo d’acqua da cui prende il nome (Alice era la moglie di Todd, sovrintendente dei telegrafi di Adelaide), Alice Springs è oggi una città di 25 mila abitanti con un’economia basata sul turismo, un reticolo di dieci strade tra il Todd River, in perenne secca, e la Stuart Highway. Una piccola metropoli nel vuoto, dove i turisti arrivano per poi ripartire verso i MacDonnell Ranges e Uluru. Un luogo di passaggio o delle moderne opportunità nel deserto. Nel parcheggio una coppia di migranti interni si gode lo spettacolo del sole che se ne va, mangiando pollo alle mandorle e ascoltando a tutto volume The dark side of the Moon dei Pink Floyd. Sono di Perth, Western Australia, in giro da due anni «per vedere il paese» fermandosi ogni tanto per guadagnare qualche soldo. Sono ad Alice da tre mesi, lei lavora al posto di polizia locale, lui fa lavoretti part time. Ancora per un po’, poi contano di ripartire. La frontiera è mobile. Si brinda insieme, a Coca Cola, alla notte tropicale	The best view of Alice is from Anzac Hill, in the evening. On the hill sacred to the Arrerntes, who celebrate the dream of the Caterpillar here, but also to those who came later, the white people who have erected a memorial to the fallen of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps in all wars on its top. In the background, the MacDonnell Ranger ridge; around an ocean of red sand the size of Europe. Chatwin makes of Alice the heart of his two Australian stays, the basis of its trips in the Red Centre, the place where to collect information and live experiences later put in his book, establishing relationships with those who told him of the paths travelled by Aboriginal people to feed their essential relationship with the land. Founded in 1888 around the telegraph station and the well from which it takes its name (Alice was the wife of Todd, superintendent of Adelaide telegraphs), Alice Springs is a city of 25,000 people with an economy based on tourism, a network of roads between Todd River, always dry, and the Stuart Highway. A small metropolis in the vacuum, where tourists arrive and then leave again heading for the MacDonnell Ranges and Uluru. A place of passage or of the modern opportunities in the desert. In the car park a couple of internal migrants can enjoy the beauty of the sunset, eating chicken with almonds and listening at top volume to The dark side of the Moon by the Pink Floyd. They are from Perth, Western Australia, and have been travelling for two years "to see the country", stopping occasionally to earn some money. They arrived in Alice three months ago, she works at the local police post, he has part-time jobs. Still for a while, then they are going to leave again. The frontier is movable. We toast, with Coca Cola, to the tropical night