New $316m Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural precinct to be built in Canberra: ‘Ngurra’
A new $316m Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural precinct, called ‘Ngurra’, which means home, will be built in Canberra.
A new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural precinct will be built in Canberra’s parliamentary triangle.
The $316.5m facility will be called “Ngurra”, which means “home”, “country”, or “place of belonging”.
It will include a learning and knowledge centre, a national resting place to care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestral remains and a new home for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS).
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the precinct, to be built on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin on Ngunnawal country, would be a place of national pride and significance.
“Ngurra is the realisation of a long-held desire to have a home for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories at the heart of our nation,” he said.
“It will be a national landmark of the highest order, standing proudly for us all to celebrate, educate, reflect and commemorate.
“It will be built in Commonwealth Place, on the primary axis in the Parliamentary Triangle – between Old Parliament House and the Australian War Memorial – demonstrating the importance and reverence this institution should hold.”
Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said the new facility would make the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural and heritage items accessible.
“At its heart will be a national resting place, where the remains of Indigenous Australians taken from their country will be cared for until they are able to be returned to their communities,” he said.
“And in instances where provenance has been forgotten or erased, they will be cared for in perpetuity with dignity and respect.
“As the new home to AIATSIS, the precinct will also house and make accessible the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural and heritage items.
“Ngurra will provide a new perspective on our shared history, as a significant moment for truth-telling, and a new place where the diversity of Indigenous Australia and one of the world’s oldest living cultures will be celebrated.”
An architectural design competition will be run in 2022 for the new precinct.
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