The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is the main museum in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. The museum is located in the inner Darwin suburb of Fannie Bay. The MAGNT is governed by the Board of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and is supported by the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory Foundation. Each year the MAGNT presents both internally developed exhibitions and travelling exhibitions from around Australia. It is also the home of the annual Telstra

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) is Australia's longest running Indigenous art award. Established in 1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin, ...

, Australia's longest-running set of awards for

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

artists.

History

In 1964 a bill was introduced into the

Northern Territory Legislative Council The Northern Territory Legislative Council was the partly elected governing body of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1947 until its replacement by the fully elected Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 1974. Prior to 1947, there ha ...

to start a museum in Darwin by making the Museums and Art Galleries Board of the Northern Territory. The first director, Colin Jack-Hinton, was appointed in 1970. The Old Town Hall in Smith Street in Darwin's CBD was chosen as the Museum's first location. The museum contained

Southeast Asian Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

and Pacific culture,

maritime history Maritime history is the study of human interaction with and activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it ...

, natural sciences,

Indigenous Australian culture Australian Aboriginal culture includes a number of practices and ceremonies centered on a belief in the Dreamtime and other mythology. Reverence and respect for the land and oral traditions are emphasised. Over 300 languages and other groupings ...

and contemporary art. Before

Cyclone Tracy Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, from 24 to 26 December 1974. The small, developing easterly storm had been observed passing clear of the city initially, but then turned t ...

in 1974 the Old Town Hall was almost complete from renovations. The cyclone caused major structural damage to the building and a portion of the art collections were damaged. The salvaged collections were put in rented space scattered around Darwin. On 1 July 2014, the MAGNT became an independent statutory body.

Facilities

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Darwin

It was not until three years after

that in 1977 the

Commonwealth Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

approved construction of a new museum at Bullocky Point in the suburb of Fannie Bay. Construction commenced on the new museum in 1979 after the

was granted self-government, and funding for the new building was confirmed. The building was opened on 10 September 1981 by the

Governor General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the Monarchy of Australia, monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Sir Zelman Cowen Sir Zelman Cowen, (7 October 1919 – 8 December 2011) was an Australian legal scholar and university administrator who served as the 19th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1977 to 1982. Cowen was born in Melbourne, and attended ...

, and was known as the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences. The museum featured the history, science and visual art of the region and its people. An extension was built and completed in 1992 to display the

's maritime history. In 1993 the name of the museum was changed to the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.

Fannie Bay Gaol

The MAGNT manages

Fannie Bay Gaol Fannie Bay Gaol is a historic gaol in Fannie Bay, Northern Territory, Australia. The gaol operated as Her Majesty's Gaol and Labour Prison, from 20 September 1883 until 1 September 1979. History In 1888, Deputy Sheriff (and later Government ...

, a historic gaol in the coastal suburb of Fannie Bay in Darwin.

Defence of Darwin Experience

The Defence of Darwin Experience at East Point in Darwin is run by the

Darwin Military Museum The Darwin Military Museum was originally established as an artillery museum by the Royal Australian Artillery Association (NT) Inc (RAAA) to exhibit photographs and artefacts from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin's history during World War II. ...

and managed by MAGNT. It tells the story of the Northern Territory's World War II history, in particular the

Bombing of Darwin The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the town, ships in ...

in 1942, through interactive multimedia displays. It opened ahead of the 60th commemoration of the bombing in February 2012 and cost $10 million.

Museum of Central Australia and Strehlow Research Centre

The MAGNT manages the Museum of Central Australia and Strehlow Research Centre at the Araluen Arts Precinct in

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

The Chan Building

On 16 June 2015, the Northern Territory Government announced plans to refurbish the historic

Chan Building The Chan Building was located in State Square in central Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Chan Building was the eighth and last of the large government office blocks to be built in the centre of Darwin in the 1960s. It was kno ...

in the centre of Darwin, as a world-class visual arts museum to be managed by the MAGNT. The refurbishment which is expected to cost $18.3 million. The redevelopment has been controversial due to increasing costs and government approval processes.

Collections

The Territory's art collection consists of over 30,000 items of art and material culture. Famous exhibits include the body of Sweetheart, a crocodile notorious for attacking boats.

Selected exhibitions

Starting on 23 May 2020 (later than scheduled owing to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 Januar ...

) and due to run until 25 October 2020, a comprehensive solo exhibition of

Nyapanyapa Yunupingu Nyapanyapa Yunupingu (1945 – 20 October 2021) was an Australian Yolngu painter and printmaker who lived and worked in the community at Yirrkala, Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory. Yunupingu created works of art that drastically diverg ...

's work, "''the moment eternal: Nyapanyapa Yunupiŋu''" was mounted. Featuring more than 60 of the artist's works, it is the first solo exhibition by an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

artist to be held at MAGNT.

References

External links

* {{authority control Museums in Darwin, Northern Territory Art museums and galleries in the Northern Territory Art museums established in 1981

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The museum is located in the inner Darwin suburb of Fannie Bay. The MAGNT is governed by the Board of the Museum and Art Gallery of the ...

Natural history museums in Australia