The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory is northern Australia's premier cultural institution. Our vision is to be a world-class museum connecting people and stories of the Northern Territory. We are both a museum and art gallery with collections, exhibitions and programs across our core areas of Aboriginal culture, natural sciences, history and art focusing on Northern and Central Aus
tralia and our near neighbours. We are known for our collections and expertise in:
• Aboriginal art, culture and stories
• Marine, earth and terrestrial sciences
• Northern and Central Australian history
• Australian art
• Asian and Oceanic art and material culture
OUR HISTORY
MAGNT was born in 1966, with the introduction of a Bill into the Legislative Council of the Northern Territory. Dr Colin Jack-Hinton was appointed the MAGNT's first director, taking up the position in 1970. It was first housed in the renovated old Town Hall (originally known as the Palmerston Town Hall) in Darwin’s central business district
But on that fateful evening, Christmas Eve 1974, Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin, destroying the old Town Hall and damaging much of the MAGNT collection. For the next few years both the staff and collection were housed in multiple buildings around Darwin, coming together for lunchtime lectures in the ruins of the Old Town Hall. After much deliberation, approval was finally granted for the construction of a new purpose-built museum and art gallery at Bullocky Point, on the site of the old Vestey's Meatworks. Over the last few decades, the MAGNT portfolio has grown to include regional museums and heritage sites across Darwin and Alice Springs. The MAGNT became an independent statutory body on 1 July 2014. The Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) has been held annually at MAGNT in Darwin since 1984 and aims to showcase the very best contemporary Indigenous art production in urban, regional and remote Australia.
