STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr GOSLING (Solomon) (13:37): Terima kasih. Sahul & Sunda is a Darwin based arts organisation bringing Australian and Indonesian artists together through cultural and regional exchange. As part of this year's Darwin Festival, its production Pencelupan, which means immersion, brought Indigenous Rifa'iyah batik artists from Batang, Indonesia, together with curators, filmmakers, dancers and musicians at the George Brown Botanic Gardens.

The program included an exhibition, workshops, film screenings, botanical walks and three nights of breathtaking contemporary performance featuring Suara Indonesia Dance, a renowned Australian-Indonesian dance ensemble. They were incredible. Every event was sold out, showing Darwin's appetite for cultural exchange, particularly with our neighbours in South-East Asia.

The project was delivered by volunteers, with support from the federal government's Creative Australia, the Australia-Indonesia Institute, Arts NT and the City of Darwin. Darwin is recognised as a major art centre for First Nations art, but Sahul & Sunda is building on that foundation by creating places where Indigenous art forms from across South-East Asia are shared and celebrated.

I commend creative producer Sarah Rennie and the whole team who bought this magnificent collaboration together.