As more and more of ‘old Darwin’ disappears before our eyes, Francine Chinn looks at an ‘old’ Darwin family, their impact on the national and international arts scene, and a pre air-conditioned lifestyle marked by diversity and a very intriguing heritage.

A sign by Larrakia traditional owners welcomes visitors to the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) on Bullocky Point.

It is the words of Gary Lee, an academic and artist whose cultural heritage gives a succinct snapshot of Top End history over the past 150 years – and beyond.
Born in 1952, he is one of eleven children who grew up immersed in a diverse artistic and culinary lifestyle, at a time when most Australians considered spaghetti bolognaise a rather exotic dish.

The ethnic mix includes Larrakia, Filipino, Japanese, Scottish, Chinese and Wardaman backgrounds.

“From each of our grandparents we gained a love of food,” enthuses Lee. “We would be out bush eating kangaroo, the next day, sushi … we had separate Chinese bowls and Japanese bowls for eating.”

His ten siblings include Billawara, the eldest, who headed the NT Indigenous Arts Unit; Roque, an artist who has work exhibited in MAGNT and the National Museum; artists Tony and Ian, the 2008 NAIDOC art award winners for their collaborative work; cook Danella; artist Jason; and sister Tina (Lee) Baum, a current curator at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

Arguably, it is Gary who has the highest profile through his almost 30 years of work as a writer, anthropologist, artist and curator. He’s also the second eldest and can pull rank.
Their mother Mary Lee, who in her 60’s gained a Cultural Heritage degree, is today a spritely 78. She cuts a dignified figure around town, always immaculately dressed and often with her signature black hat.

“We got our artistic streak from our father, and our mother is also very creative,” Gary Lee muses. “Both parents really.”

“Father was well known around Darwin for his graphic designs and logos which he did in his spare time.”

These apparently included signs on the outside of the original Darwin Fire Service, now lost, and many other businesses.

After studying fashion in Sydney, Gary Lee returned to the Northern Territory and became a trainee Aboriginal arts advisor with Chips Mackinolty at Mimi Arts in Katherine in the mid 1980’s.

This was the beginnings of his career as curator and anthropologist.

“We used to travel and work with artists from the Kimberley, down to Lajamanu, across to Borroloola, Numbulwar, out to Bulman (Wugularr) and north to Pine Creek,” says Mackinolty. “It was an area bigger than Victoria.”

“Gary was a really skilled arts advisor with a fantastic rapport with artists. They would come from the desert, all the way to the Gulf.”

During this time Lee and Mackinolty co-curated a ground breaking 1984 exhibition titled Bukngarru: An exhibition of Aboriginal feathered craft featuring around 200 pieces of Top End fibre and body adornment art which ‘took Sydney by storm’. In the following year they again collaborated on Aboriginal Artists of the Katherine Region, held at the Aboriginal Arts Australia Gallery, Sydney.

In 1993 Gary wrote a play ‘Keep Him My Heart: A Larrakia-Filipino Love Story’ about his great-grandparents, which was performed in the Tank at Darwin High School and is still well remembered by local audiences.

Asked if growing up in the Darwin environment helped nurture these artistic tendencies, Lee does not hesitate.

“Absolutely,” he says.

“As kids we were encouraged to draw, and with the environment, you didn’t need much inspiration. Everything was around you. “We took it for granted.”

“But looking back, I see how fortunate we were.”

Mackinolty puts it in his usual style, “When you look at the Lee family, it’s the rhetoric of multiculturalism made real.”

“They embody what it is to be a Darwinite.”