Our story - I found my true colours in Darwin

Sri Lankan-Australian architect Ilma Ali's life changed forever when her flight was re-routed to Darwin. There, flowers, fashion and a community as vibrant as the landscape brought new friends and a whole new life.

I wasn't meant to be in Darwin. I was meant to be walking the streets of Amsterdam, admiring the architecture and wearing the chic all-black winter wardrobe I'd built while living in Melbourne and working as an architect at a top-tier firm. I was holidaying in Vienna on my way to my new life in the Netherlands when everything changed. My flight to Amsterdam was cancelled, then my accommodation booking followed. The pandemic had arrived.

I made a split-second decision to fly back to Australia as international borders closed around me. I'd been preparing for the end of winter in Europe, and I found myself in the thick heat of tropical Darwin, where my parents had lived for 15 years. I was used to grey streets, greyer skies, monochrome clothes, and suddenly I was surrounded by colour. It was everywhere - in the sunsets, the street art and the people.

After years of working in a corporate industry and putting my painting to the side, I finally had time to dedicate to my art. I found inspiration in the croton shrubs planted in my mother's garden, in the bromeliads of the Darwin Botanic Gardens and in the cycad husks I stumbled upon while hiking in Katherine.

I first met Ukraine-born fashion designer Olga Bryukhovets at the Parap Village Markets. We clicked. I was impressed by her slow-fashion label, Ossom, and her collaboration with the Indigenous art collective, Tiwi Design. We bonded over being women from immigrant backgrounds and our shared love of art. We spoke about working on a project together.

The nation's smallest capital city has a huge creative scene, and I wanted to be a part of it. The collaboration idea was an off-hand comment, a pipe dream, a hopeful suggestion, but Olga and I made it a reality.