32 GOURMET TRAVELLERINTERVIEW HARRIET DAVIDSON. PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES KNOWLER.I’m from the dry north-eastern ’burbs
of Adelaide,where every kid had crazy
freedom and was moderately naughty.
At 11 I would take the bus to the city to
skateboard and graffiti the back of the
bus. At 13 I would catch the train to
Melbourne with my pals. Skateboarding
and graffiti take you to weird and
wonderful places; they gave me a sense
of architecture, shape, texture and art,
all integrated. It makes you appreciate
very weird things, like the detail in
concrete and stairs.The place I travel to most is Indonesia,
whereIworkonlotsofartand
architecture projects – most recently
Tropicola Beach Club in Seminyak.
I love Bali and its lack of rules, the trials
and tribulations, and the possibilities
of creating work there. The people
and culture are filled with magical
qualities and crafts. Mexico, however,
is my spiritual creative home. Mexico
City is analogue Tokyo! And the
rest is a vortex of colour and the best
seafood in the world. Where else can
you pull up on the street and eat six
types of fresh clams on crackers for
less than $2?My ideal trip is a sabbatical.A year out:
no phone, no work, no jocks, no socks, no
bookings, no lavish budget, just email and
lo-fi on the fly. The best one was spent
travelling with a band, Dr Piffle & the
Burlap Band, playing what I like to call
“low-priority percussion”. I spent some
time helping to save Goolarabooloo
country at James Price Point in the
Kimberley from becoming the world’s
largest gas plant. I learnt how to make
spears and boomerangs and ate oysters
off the rocks. Then I met the band in
East Timor and we did a tour playing all
the snowfields in Australia. We frolicked
at Burning Man in Nevada, then drove
down to Mexico, through 26 states. Taking
peyote with the Huichol Indians and
donating our van to the Zapatistas are two
things that changed my marrows forever.I had my DNA tested and it says that I’m
76 per cent Irish, which suggests I’m like a
leprechaun – there does always seem to be
a pot of gold at the end of these rainbows.
I flip from luxury to scumbag pretty
quickly. I love getting fed by a local in the
backwaters and learning local swear words.I combine work with travel by writing the
script and making the bucket list happen.
My favourite tie-pin says YCDBSOYA!
(You Can’t Do Business Sitting On Your
Ass). I once convinced a client that rather
than employing us to build 10 sets for
their new campaign shoot, they should
send us to work on sites across the US
where the sets had already been built
by outsider artists: hand-painted houses,
tiled temples, themed hotels, eccentric
encrusted creations. We had a ball and
met so many amazing lunatics.I’m wishing on a star for the DeLorean
to time-travel me back to 1969,when
a teenaged Anthony Bourdain and I
could smoke opium together and dance
a thousand jigs over fire-cooked snacks.
But I’d also be happy to travel with the
love child of anthropologist-explorer Wade
Davis, champion eater Bourdain and the
visionary Marrakech designer Bill Willis.
We could speak all the ancient languages
and eat all the snacks, but always remain
trim, taught and terrific.James
Brown
The Adelaide designer and
artist on street food, street
art and the importance
of sabbaticals.
TRAVELLING WITH
Just back from...
speaking at a
conference in Mexico
City. The mariachi
band in residence
wore white suits and,
serendipitously, so did
I (mine was printed
with an image of my
own face – people
were tripping out
on the narcissism).Next up...We’re
hoping to sail in
our pal’s phinisi
from Halmahera,
the largest of
Indonesia’s
Maluku islands,
to Raja Ampat
in West Papua.How I travel