A seven-year wait for gallery upgrades in Tennant Creek could be over

Seven years after it was first announced, long-awaited upgrades to a Tennant Creek gallery are back on the cards. But not everybody’s convinced.

A construction tender is expected to be released this week for long-awaited upgrades to Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre.

The Tennant Creek visitor spot is slated for $10m in improvements that will put Warumungu culture and the Barkly region squarely in the spotlight.

Visiting Tennant Creek, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles released first designs for the project, which is three years behind schedule and $2m above earlier estimates.

In a statement, the government said the new exhibition space would include “technology to capture visitors’ imaginations, drawing them back in time when the nyinkka forged tracks through the landscape”.

Inside design for the Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre

Also included will be a “truth telling exhibition from a Warumungu perspective of Australia’s collective past, the history of contact and its impacts on Warumungu land, culture and people”.

There will be a new museum and exhibition space with cultural objects and exhibits from Warumungu artists and the Barkly region, a new cafe and commercial kitchen, retail space a so-called “story corridor”, meeting spaces an outside loop path and landscaped gardens.

There will also be a men and women’s performance area for arts and cultural performances, festivals and events.

Designs have been released for upgrades to the Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre.

In a speech to parliament last month, Barkly member Steve Edgington said the upgrades were first promised in 2016 and called on the government to get on with the project.

“You guessed it,” he said. “Not one shovel has hit the ground.”

Part of the government's $30m regional gallery extension program, on July 22, 2020 then chief minister Michael Gunner announced the design had been put out to tender.

Barkly MLA Steve Edgington wants the government to hurry up and get on with the Tennant Creek upgrades.

A response from government has been sought as to why it took almost three years to the day to release the final design.

Arts minister Chansey Paech made no mention of the three-year delay.

“This announcement is exciting news for Tennant Creek, and the wider Barkly region,” he said.

“We have worked closely with local Warumungu Traditional Owners and the Julalikari Council to develop purpose-designed spaces which will enhance existing features of the precinct.

“The design ensures the protection and respectful access to the sacred site of the nyinkka around which the facilities are built.”