Northern Territory Government Newsroom

An Indigenous arts organisation will receive a Northern Territory Government tourism infrastructure grant to help revitalise a cultural precinct that develops and promotes Indigenous arts from the Katherine and Arnhem regions.

Member for Stuart Bess Price said the $24,420 Tourism Infrastructure Development Fund grant would assist Djilpin Arts convert the previous culture centre into a permanent museum attraction.

"Djilpin Arts is a not-for-profit organisation based in the remote Indigenous community of Beswick that develops and promotes traditional and contemporary Indigenous visual and performing arts of the Katherine and Arnhem regions," she said.

"The organisation is in the process of revitalising its cultural precinct and a new permanent museum attraction will be established that will house the full Blanasi collection of paintings which are said to be the finest collection of West Arnhem art.

"In addition, an 'Augmented Reality' tour will detail the cultural traditions behind the Blanasi paintings.

"The $24,420 Northern Territory Government grant will go towards creating additional wall space and painting, installing the remaining Blanasi collection that had been in storage, purchasing infrastructure for the augmented reality tour, and signage to direct tourists from the Central Arnhem Highway.

"The project will provide new training, employment opportunities and business growth within the local community. It will also promote Indigenous culture and the Katherine and Arnhem Land regions through providing a rich, on-country cultural experience to visitors."

Chief Minister and Tourism Minister Adam Giles said the $4.75 million Tourism Infrastructure Development Fund was the largest Government tourism grant program in the Territory's history.

"It is a significant boost for the NT tourism industry that will help attract more visitors here and encourage them to stay longer," he said.

"The Country Liberals' Government is committed to expanding the range of tourism experiences on offer in the Territory, particularly in our regional and remote areas, so we can create more jobs and drive economic development in these communities.

"It's all part of the Country Liberals' Government's plan to develop North Australia and build a $2.2 billion visitor economy by 2020."

Media Contact: Scott Whitby 0438 531 583 (Chief Minister); Lorelei Fong Lim 0400 165 743 (Minister Price)