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24HR Art: NT Centre for Contemporary Art

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Once a 24 hour service station, the NT Centre for Contemporary Art is now a space devoted to innovative and exotic art.

Editorial


Before 24HR Art arrived on the Darwin cultural scene in 1990. there were few venues available for contemporary artists to exhibit. The gallery started its life in an abandoned 24 hour service station, hence the unusual name (the other option, “Lube Job”, was roundly rejected).

24HR Art is a dream venue for artists and lovers of contemporary art, as the unashamedly cutting-edge gallery presents exciting new work in any medium.

There have been some extraordinary firsts - notably Two Laws, One Big Spirit was a controversial collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists in 2000, including an Aboriginal dance commemorating a massacre in Western Australia, never previously performed to non-Indigenous audiences. It went on to become 24HR Art's first national touring exhibition and it continues, now touring the world a decade later.

24HR Art is particularly significant in Darwin since it provides a space for the kind of art that, while not uncommon in the larger capital cities, is almost unseen in smaller centres. For two decades art-lovers in Darwin have been privileged to have access to raw, controversial, and culturally relevant art, and Darwin's contemporary artists have not been forced to relocate in search of big city galleries willing to take a chance on new work.

Darwin's proximity to Asia also gives its contemporary art scene an exotic edge and 24HR Art collaborates extensively with artists and organisations across Indonesia, Timor and beyond.

Robert Stevenson, Citysearch

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