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🇦🇺 Australia /Culture & Society

$58 Million Aboriginal Cultural Centre Opens at Darwin Waterfront

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • The $58 million Larrakia Cultural Centre opened to the public at Stokes Hill Wharf on Darwin's waterfront after 24 years of planning and development.
  • The centre includes museum and art spaces, meeting and office facilities, a shop, cafe and restaurant.
  • Its supporters hope it will expand cultural education and create lasting business and employment opportunities for Larrakia people.

After 24 years of planning and development, the $58 million Larrakia Cultural Centre has opened at Stokes Hill Wharf on Darwin's waterfront.

The centre welcomed the public with a sunrise tour. It showcases the culture, history and art of the Larrakia people, the traditional owners of the Darwin region. The idea emerged in 2002, while negotiations over the waterfront site and development between the Larrakia Development Corporation and the Northern Territory government ran from 2005 to 2022. Construction began two years ago.

People arrive in Darwin, they want an Aboriginal experience and they want a Larrakia experience. In the past we haven't had that, we've had dribs and drabs … this is a one-stop shop.

· Mark MotlopThe Larrakia Development Corporation chair explained the centre's role in cultural education and tourism.

Larrakia Development Corporation chair Mark Motlop said the centre would fill a gap for visitors seeking an Aboriginal and specifically Larrakia experience in Darwin. “In the past we haven't had that, we've had dribs and drabs … this is a one-stop shop,” he said.

It had to be a commercial model, and Whistler in Canada had that.

· Mark MotlopHe described the international examples that influenced the centre's financial and design model.

The venue includes a museum, art displays, meeting and office spaces, a retail shop, a cafe and a restaurant. Motlop said he had studied similar centres in Canada, Alaska and New Zealand while the project was being planned. The design team sought a commercially sustainable model rather than one that would depend on future funding.

Aboriginal Investment NT chief executive Nigel Browne said the centre could provide both cultural benefits and economic opportunities for Larrakia people. It employs full-time staff and could connect existing Larrakia tourism businesses with new opportunities. The building takes the shape of an ancestral bird in flight, linked to a Larrakia sacred site at nearby Stokes Hill. Displays include 23 cultural items repatriated from interstate and overseas, as well as a replica of the Larrakia people's 1972 petition to Queen Elizabeth II seeking land rights and political representation.

There'll be opportunities moving forward for Larrakia to engage in business and branch out from the centre itself.

· Nigel BrowneThe Aboriginal Investment NT chief executive discussed the centre's potential economic benefits.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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