MEETING GROUND: Territory Encounters
Client: Library and Archives NT
Location: Darwin, NT
Completed: 2025
Collaborators: Art of Multimedia
Convergence was engaged to deliver the new NT History exhibition at LANT’s (Library and Archives NT) brand new location within Charles Darwin University’s new campus.
Our team’s role was to collaborate with LANT’s curatorial team and deliver an exhibition, including exhibition design, multimedia production (in collaboration with Art of Multimedia), graphic design and implementation.
This exhibition updates the Library’s previous ‘History of the NT’ exhibition and aims to tell the NT’s story from the perspective of its First People. Its development has involved a high level of co-design to ensure the appropiate use of first person voices to connect past and present, people and place. The stories have been portrayed in a respectful and inclusive manner, also considering all forms of physical and learning abilities.
The design references shapes, textures, materials and colours found in northern Country and Aboriginal culture. From listening pods resembling NT’s termite mounds, a Gunyah (aboriginal structure) and vertical timber referencing paperbark tree textures, to carefully curated stories of encounters, brutal truths and harmonies, this exhibition truly connects people and place and brings First People’s and European Settlers’ stories to life.
LANT had chosen a specific date for opening. Issues during the procurement process caused a delay in the project award date, which meant our timeline was significantly reduced. Convergence took the opening date onboard and established a highly collaborative approach with open communication channels through bi-weekly work in progress workshops and regular review points. This allowed for ‘no surprises’ at the end of each stage and timely approvals.
Convergence also engaged fabricators and suppliers early in the design process at a draft design development stage to ensure their teams were aware of the scope and ready to ‘hit the ground running’ as soon as our documentation was submitted and a cost proposal was approved. This also enabled us to include the fabricator’s input throughout the design process to select as much as possible construction methods and materials that would be readily available in Darwin, as well as identify those with longer lead times that would need early actioning.
