News

• 2002-09-15 - Ngargee - Victoria's Brand New Arts Space Gets A Name

  Victoria’s newest arts space threw its doors open to the public today as part of an official opening ceremony by the Premier, Steve Bracks.

  Mr Bracks said the new centre, to be known as Ngargee, in South Melbourne, was an exciting part of the ongoing development of the arts precinct.

  “This is a great day and a great new space that belongs to all Victorians. We now have a striking new landmark,” he said.

  “This $12 million centre is the latest addition to Australia’s premier arts precinct right here at Southbank.”

  Mr Bracks said there was more to come in the precinct, with planning underway for both the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch recital hall and a new home for the Melbourne Theatre Company.

  Ngargee was used in the opening of Playbox’s Black Inside season and had a direct link to the traditional owners of the land the centre now occupied, he said.

  “The name Ngargee has an ancient history. It honours this history of place and reflects the purpose of the new centre,” he said.

  “It’s a word that for thousands of years has been used in this area by the Boonerwrung people to mean ‘gathering for celebration in dance, story and song’ - this centre helps keep that spirit alive.

  “The last of the great Ngargees was held at Emerald Hill, not far from this site in the 1850s.”

  Mr Bracks said Ngargee brought together the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and Victoria’s contemporary dance company Chunky Move with Playbox - Melbourne’s contemporary theatre company.

  “ACCA had grown too big for its premises and this building proclaims a new era for presenting the art of our time,” Mr Bracks said.

  Mr Bracks said the architects, Roger Wood and Randal Marsh, should praised for their vision and commitment to the building.

  The Bracks Government committed $10.3 million to the project. Additional funding was sourced from major sponsors Sidney Myer Centenary Celebration, Monash University, Carlton & United, Dimity Reed, BHP Steel and the Besen Family Foundation.

   

• 2002-08-28 - Public Gets A Peek At New Dance And Contemporary Arts Centre

  The public will get the opportunity to have a sneak preview of the new $11 million home for contemporary arts and dance in South Melbourne, the Minister for Major Projects, Peter Batchelor, and the Minister for the Arts, Mary Delahunty announced today.

  “This is a space that belongs to all Victorians, a place we should all be proud of and one which should be promoted to visitors to our State,” Ms Delahunty said.

  “Citizens are a city’s best salespeople and we will be conducting a series of ‘sneak preview’ tours for local residents, taxi drivers, hotel concierges, teachers of art, dance and drama, media representatives, city ambassadors and project supporters.”

  The official handover of the Sturt Street complex from Major Projects to the Arts was made today marking the transition from building site to the latest addition to the Victorian arts scene.

  Mr Batchelor said this was the first Major Projects Victoria project to be commissioned, funded and built by the Bracks Government and will be a key addition to the Southbank arts precinct.

  “The building’s innovative design was the result of an architecture competition that has resulted in Wood Marsh’s successful Ayers Rock-like design coming to fruition at 111 Sturt Street, South Melbourne,” he said.

  “The strikingly designed building, clad in a special rusted steel will become a key feature of the Southbank arts precinct and a new architectural landmark for Melbourne.

  “The site presented significant challenges, with high levels of silt, a legacy of contamination from its industrial past and the CityLink tunnel that runs directly underneath requiring significant engineering solutions.

  “Considering these challenges as well as the need for the building to house three diverse arts bodies, the building’s cost of $11 million represents exceptional value for money.

  The centre would throw its doors open on Sunday, September 15 and Ms Delahunty encouraged the entire community to get along and have a look.

  There were a host of activities planned for the open day including an installation by artist Ian de Gruchy at ACCA, Chunky Move performances and music in the Malthouse, she said.

  “This building provides a new gallery space for the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, and an office and rehearsal space for the Chunky Move,” she said.

  “It will also contain the largest set-building workshop in the southern hemisphere for Playbox.

  “This is a unique venture that brings together these quite different artistic leaders under one roof. It is a demonstration of the Bracks government’s enthusiastic commitment to the arts - and the infrastructure which supports them.”

  Mr Batchelor said the project was part of the $8.2 billion of major projects the Bracks Government was currently delivering across Victoria.