The Jingili Playground is an inclusive and accessible play space built for the community’s needs. With engagement at the heart of this project, the Council sought input from the community to understand what they wanted the new playground to include. The feedback was clear that the community wanted a play space where children of all abilities could play together.

Collaborating with Variety NT and as part of the Thrive public art program, the playground brings people together and champions the artwork of six local artists with disabilities (four with First Nations heritage). The artists from The Free Space Studio, together with Milne & Stonehouse artists, workshopped motifs and concepts for the playground. Through their observations of the Rapid Creek area, and its flora and fauna, they developed their ideas, heroing Darwin’s endemic biodiversity.

Inspired by nature and local knowledge, the artists decided on the Green Tree Ants as the playground’s central theme. Green ants construct their nests with delicately twined leaves, using their collective efforts to build and defend their home. The design of the play structure features metal leaves that mimic the nests and are perforated with the artists’ drawings. The legs of the nests are modelled on the buttress roots of mangroves, and the artists’ artwork also features vibrantly on the shade cloth covering the playground.