Description of the attraction
The Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery is the state's premier museum located in the Darwin suburb of Fanny Bay.
The museum was originally located in the downtown in the Old Town Hall building on Smith Street. His collections contained objects of culture, maritime history, science, life of aboriginal tribes in the region of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean. However, during the devastating cyclone Tracy in 1974, the building was badly damaged, and part of the collection was lost. The salvaged artifacts were housed in several rented premises throughout Darwin. The new building in the suburb of Fannie Bay was built only in 1981, when the museum was called the Museum of Arts and Science of the Northern Territory. The expositions of the museum told about the history, science and fine arts of the region and its inhabitants. In 1992, an additional room was added to the museum, which housed a collection of items of maritime history. A year later, the name of the museum was changed to Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.
Today the collection of the museum has more than 30 thousand exhibits of art and material culture. One of the most popular exhibits is the body of a crocodile, nicknamed "Darling", known for its attacks on boats and boats.
The museum regularly hosts a number of events, such as the annual Telstra Award of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Arts. Founded in 1984 specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait artists, this event aims to showcase diversity and innovation in contemporary Aboriginal art.
The museum complex consists of five permanent galleries, a traveling exhibition, educational spaces for schoolchildren, a theater, a gift shop and a café.
