Nauiyu artists rally to rebuild Merrepen Arts after Daly River flood washes away centre

Artists from the Northern Territory’s Nauiyu community are scrambling to rebuild one of the Top End’s best-known Aboriginal art centres after record flooding on the Daly River destroyed the Merrepen Arts Centre and damaged key printing and sewing equipment.

The arts centre, about 220 kilometres south of Darwin, has long been a cultural and economic hub for local artists, producing paintings, textiles and screen-printed fabrics that have been worn by models and politicians and shown internationally. But residents were forced to evacuate earlier this month as floodwaters surged, and artists say the centre’s buildings and workshop infrastructure were left in ruins.

Local Indigenous artist Kieren Karritpul said the loss cut to the heart of community life. “It was devastating for all of us” he said, describing the centre as the “mother of the community”. Based on aerial footage, he believes both Merrepen Arts Centre buildings have been destroyed and vital equipment has been waterlogged.

Merrepen Arts, Culture and Language Aboriginal Corporation (the Aboriginal-owned, not-for-profit organisation behind the centre) says its print workshop has been wiped out. “Our entire community has been flooded, we have evacuated and our print workshop has been wiped out” the organisation posted in a March update, announcing a crowdfunding campaign to help replace equipment and restart production.

With Nauiyu residents still displaced, artists and supporters have turned to pop-up sales in Darwin and online fundraising to keep money flowing back to artists and prepare for the long recovery. The centre has around 100 members, with income from sales supporting artists and the cooperative’s sustainability.

The disaster has also highlighted the compounding pressures faced by remote arts organisations, where basic services and insurance can be hard to secure. The Environment Centre NT, which has been compiling ways to help flood-affected communities, said Merrepen Arts does not have insurance because it is “prohibitively expensive”.

While the full extent of the damage will not be known until people can return safely, the centre’s supporters say rebuilding will be about more than replacing machines. Merrepen’s designs are deeply tied to the Daly River environment and to intergenerational knowledge, from textiles inspired by water, birds and plant life to paintings that record stories of flood, survival and Country.

For Karritpul, continuing to make art while away from home has been a way to cope. He has been painting in temporary accommodation in Darwin “just to keep busy” and hopes to memorialise the latest flood in future works once the community returns.

Community organisations have urged Territorians and Australians more broadly to support local fundraising drives, with the scale of the wet-season flooding stretching emergency and recovery resources across multiple regions.