“Let me know if people in Darwin still clap for the beaut sunsets” my friend Maggie insists before my trip. I’ve seen and heard people clap for pilots nailing a smooth landing, or at the end of movies occasionally, but for a natural phenomenon that happens every day – really?
I’m not sure I believe Maggie, as I touch down in Darwin, the capital of Australia’s Northern Territory. It’s 5C in Melbourne but as the plane doors open and 30C heat wafts in the aircraft I’m left in no doubt about about Darwin’s tropical reputation. This city is always warm; seasons are marked as dry or wet, much like Southeast Asia, which is the same distance from here as southern Australia.
I hear that Mindil Beach is the famous sunset spot in town, and make a note to get there to scope out the clapping situation before the week is out. Like Melbourne – and indeed almost all Australian cities, Darwin spreads along a stretch of curving coast, but unlike the former, getting around is easy here. You can reach most places on foot or by scooter. So it’s a walk to the city centre that takes me to meet spritely genius David Collins, director of Darwin Street Art Festival.
Dave has kindly agreed to show me round the brilliant, large-scale murals he and his team have been installing on the walls of Darwin’s buildings during eight years of festivals, rather than me going solo and using their augmented reality app. Within a few stops, it becomes extremely apparent that Darwin is a small city with an ‘everyone knows everyone’ vibe; on each block, people wave Dave down. “Ah I haven’t seen him in years” he beams.
The festival takes place annually in May and June with 70 per cent of the more than 120 pieces by local muralists, and even those by international painters tend to celebrate local culture, nature and artists. One of the most prominent is the colossal piece by Melbourne based Peter ‘CTO’ Seaton; a five-story portrait of Hilton, his local Aboriginal tour guide.
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