Australian National Maritime Museum brings its community storytelling project to Port Adelaide
Opens 11.30am October 29 at Yitpi Yartapuultiku - 1300 Old Port Road, Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide will become a centre for stories of water, migration, First Nations knowledge and belonging when the Australian National Maritime Museum brings its community storytelling project, Sea Country to Safe Harbour, to the port.
Sea Country to Safe Harbour uses water-rivers, creeks, coastlines, harbours and journeys-as a starting point for connection, storytelling and reflection.
The free exhibition will be shaped by local voices, waterways and relationships. In Port Adelaide, it is framed by the identity of a working port: a place of arrival and departure, industry and exchange, movement and memory. Residents will be invited to share memories of water, travel, work, family and home.
Water is the starting point for conversations about home, identity, displacement, resilience and belonging, while Port Adelaide's maritime character gives the project a direct relationship to harbour, trade, travel and the movement of people, goods and stories across water.
The Port Adelaide project will explore the intersection of First Nations connection to Country, port histories, migration experiences and contemporary community life. Stories of saltwater, estuary and harbour will sit alongside stories of labour, settlement, family memory and cultural continuity.
Elders, artists and community participants will bring their own stories, practices and objects into the space, allowing interpretation to be led by those who hold the knowledge. Story sharing, workshops and community programs will create opportunities for people to make, talk and connect across cultures and generations.
Nanette Louchart-Fletcher, Assistant Director at the Australian National Maritime Museum said the project was designed to listen first and build on the stories and relationships already present in the community.
'Sea Country to Safe Harbour begins with a simple idea: almost everyone carries a memory of water. In Port Adelaide, those memories connect First Nations knowledge of Country with the histories of a working port and migrant experiences of journey, settlement and belonging. This project is not simply about Port Adelaide; it is being made with Port Adelaide by the people who know this place best.'
Supported by the Australian Government, the project shows how national cultural institutions can strengthen inclusion and social cohesion by working directly with local communities.
Port Adelaide's Sea Country to Safe Harbour will be held at Yitpi Yartapuultiku - 1300 Old Port Road, Port Adelaide and runs from October 29 until the end of January.
Sea Country to Safe Harbour is produced by the Australian National Maritime Museum and supported by the Australian Government.
