Travelodge Resort Makes its Darwin Street Art Festival Debut
Hot on the heels of its Wet Season makeover in 2020, Travelodge Resort Darwin has undergone another dramatic transformation with the addition of a two-storey high mural by artist Lisa King as part of this year’s Darwin Street Art Festival.
Director of Operations ANZ, Tish Nyar, said TFE Hotels was no stranger to the Darwin Street Art Festival, with the Indigenous-owned Adina-Vibe Darwin Waterfront* undergoing a similar transformation back in 2020 thanks to the addition of a five-storey pastel mural by NZ-born artist Pennyrose Wiggins.
“Our Adina-Vibe Darwin Waterfront mural features no less than 11 migratory birds and paid tribute to the Territory’s Wet Season, so it’s fitting that this year the Travelodge’s mural honours proud Danggalaba Kulumbirigin^ woman, Mililma May.
Travelodge Darwin is the only hotel to participate and this year’s festival, with Australian multi-disciplinary artist and large-scale muralist, Lisa King, recently put the finishing touches to her portrait of Mililma at the busy Cavenagh and Lindsay Street intersection in Darwin’s CBD.
Festival Producer, Jo Shearn, said Mililma was a staunch Danggalaba Kulumbirigin Tiwi woman living, working, and creating on Kulumbirigin Country and was a fitting subject for the Travelodge artwork.
“Malila and Lisa spent time together on Larrakia land prior to the mural being started in order for the work to be a truly genuine representation of Milima’s strength and power as a young Danggalaba Kulumbirigin woman. She generously gifted Travelodge Resort Darwin a beautiful poem to accompany the portrait.”
DANGGALABA KULUMBIRIGIN WOMAN
I am Dedja Batcho.
I am her daughters and her sons: Victor, Lindy,
Bartrum, Keith, Yula, Lucy, Emily, Mary and
Rona.
I am Dedja Batcho's grand-children, who
themselves are parents and grandparents of
many.
I am my nieces and nephews, and my children
and grandchildren to come.
You can tell who we are by our stance, smiles
and frown.
We are the Danggalaba Kulumbirigin.
The descendants of traditional custodians of
this country where we sit and bathe in the sun.
Travelodge Resort General Manager, Lucy Ockleston, said the team were thrilled to play a small part in honouring Mililma and looked forward to unveiling another mural in the not-too-distant future.
“When the Darwin Street Art Festival team approached us to partner again this year, we knew we had two perfect walls to not only showcase the artwork but to give the festival fantastic exposure,” she said. “With Lisa King’s artwork complete, we are very much looking forward to unveiling our second enormous six-storey mural sometime in the future.”
“Watch this space… quite literally.”
Both of the hotel murals form part of Darwin’s CBD self-guided Street Art Tourist Trail which can be accessed by downloading the DSAF app. The Adina-Vibe artwork can be viewed from the pedestrian Sky Bridge leading to the Darwin Waterfront precinct and from street level whilst the Travelodge mural is best seen from the corner of Lindsay and Cavenagh Streets.
For more information on the Darwin Street Art Festival visit: https://www.darwinstreetartfestival.com.au/
*The Travelodge Resort Darwin and Adina-Vibe Darwin Waterfront proudly operate on Larrakia lands. Adina-Vibe Darwin Waterfront is a joint venture between Indigenous Business Australia and TOGA Group.
^A Larrakia clan of Darwin named after the estuarine crocodile.
Image by Artist Lisa King.
Ends.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jodi Clark - TFE Hotels (Director of Communications)
+61 499 900 658 / [email protected]
Download images HERE.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Lisa King is an Australian multi-disciplinary artist. From a successful gallery owner and curator to a vibrant oil painter and large-scale muralist, she is unstoppable on any medium thrown her way. In recent times, she has hit the street art festival circuit and made her mark in Boston, Macau, Melbourne, and Whangarei.
ABOUT TRAVELODGE HOTELS
Travelodge Hotels makes a hotel stay Refreshingly Simple. Hotels in 6 city locations around Australia and New Zealand offer great accommodation, high speed Wi-Fi and a relaxed feel with all the essential comforts. Guests will find a warm and honest sense of humour in everything Travelodge Hotels does. These are places where people enjoy exceptional locations and options to enhance their stay.
Our newest Travelodge Hotel: Travelodge Hotel Hurstville opened in January 2022. Travelodge Hotel Hobart was refurbished in August of 2022; Travelodge Hotel Melbourne Docklands in 2021 and Travelodge Resort Darwin in 2020.
WHO ARE TFE HOTELS?
TFE Hotels (TOGA Far East Hotels) is Australia’s International Hotel Group - headquartered in Sydney and operating in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Austria, Singapore… and opening in Switzerland in 2023. TFE has a portfolio of seven hotel brands - A by Adina, Adina Hotels, Vibe Hotels, Quincy Hotels, Travelodge Hotels, Rendezvous Hotels and Collection by TFE Hotels which includes The Calile Hotel, The Hotel Britomart, Hotel Kurrajong and The Savoy Hotel on Little Collins, with more in the development pipeline.
TFE Hotels acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands we conduct business upon and pays our respects to Elders past, present, and emerging. We respect the Country itself, including its trees, animals, spirits, waters, skies, stars, and special sites.