What is the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory?
The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, or MAGNT, is in Darwin. It is known for its Cyclone Tracy gallery, Aboriginal art and Sweetheart, a giant stuffed saltwater crocodile.
The museum sits at Bullocky Point in the suburb of Fannie Bay, overlooking the Arafura Sea. Entry is free, and its galleries cover natural history, Aboriginal and Southeast Asian art, and maritime history.
The Cyclone Tracy exhibition tells the story of the cyclone that destroyed Darwin on Christmas Day 1974. A small dark room plays a recording of the storm's roaring winds, giving visitors a chilling sense of that night.
Sweetheart the crocodile
Sweetheart was a saltwater crocodile about 5.1 metres long that attacked boats in the Finniss River area in the 1970s. He drowned in 1979 while being captured, and his preserved body is now one of the museum's most famous exhibits.
Each year MAGNT hosts the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, one of Australia's most important Indigenous art prizes, first held in 1984.
Its maritime gallery displays boats from Indonesia and the Pacific, reflecting Darwin's close ties with Asia.
Did You Know?
The museum's natural history collection includes many specimens of animals found only in northern Australia.