Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) Darwin City, Australia

The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory 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 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, Australia's longest running Indigenous art prize.

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.

The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is the premier cultural institution in Darwin, the northern capital of Australia. It holds diverse collections that are representative of the art, natural history and culture of the region. Through its research and exhibition programs, the MAGNT aims to contribute to an understanding of the natural, cultural and artistic history of the region.

The MAGNT was established 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 (built in 1883 and originally known as the Palmerston Town Hall) in Darwin’s central business district.

On Christmas Eve in 1974, Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin and destroyed over 70% of the buildings in the city including the Old Town Hall. Much of the MAGNT collection was lost or damaged by this devastating event. 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 shores of Darwin Harbour, at the site of the old Vestey's Meatworks. It was opened on the 10th September 1981.

Over the last few decades, the MAGNT family has grown to include the Museum of Central Australia and Strehlow Research Centre in Alice Springs and the Defence of Darwin Experience, Fannie Bay Gaol and Lyons Cottage in Darwin. The MAGNT became an independent statutory authority on 1 July 2014.

http://hisour.com/partner/oceania/museum-art-gallery-northern-territory-magnt-darwin-city-australia/