Adelaide Indigenous Arts Gallery Project on Hiatus

Work on Adelaide’s $200-million indigenous art gallery has been put on hold amid claims of a cost blowout.

The previous SA government allocated $115 million in its Budget towards the project at Lot Fourteen while the Commonwealth Government tipped in an additional $85 million.

Tarrkari, the Centre for First Nationals Cultures, had been due to be completed by 2025 following a design competition for the final project.

Woods Bagot, in partnership with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, designed the centre with overlapping layers in the facade and a gathering space in the centre to create a gateway for cultural exchange.

Woods Bagot principal Rosina Di Maria said the 11,500sq m building’s design was based on connected layers that reflected Aboriginal connection to country, place and kin.

The Labor state government launched an “urgent review” into the previous government’s plans for the site claiming it would actually cost in excess of $250 million to create a state significant gallery.

Speaking at the Purrumpa: First Nations Arts and Cultural Gathering at the Adelaide Convention Centre, Premier Peter Malinauskas said an internationally renowned project could not be delivered for the $200-million budget.

“A centre celebrating the longest continuous culture on Earth, celebrating 60,000 years of history, situated within one of Adelaide’s most significant locations, must do justice to the cultures that it seeks to represent,” he said.

“In that context, good isn’t good enough.

“South Australia’s First Nations cultural centre should be truly magnificent.”

Businesswoman Carolyn Hewson is leading the review of the project alongside former politicians Ken Wyatt and Bob Carr. They are due to complete the review by Easter next year.

Malinauskas said the project would still go ahead at the existing site after a thorough review of the project and costings.