Reading Darwin as a landscape of war

Through a detailed look at the war memorials and performances of remembrance that occur in Darwin’s Bicentennial Park, this chapter hopes to show how landscapes can be developed to reflect a particular historical narrative and promote a specific agenda. In recent years, perhaps as a result of the Anzac centenary, there has been a significant growth in war commemoration practices within Australia. While today we see Australians of all ages and races and every gender participate enthusiastically in a range of commemorative events, this has not always been the case, with interest in war remembrance rising and falling at different times in Australia’s history. Through an examination of how landscapes can help shape our remembering of war, and how they are utilised at different times to unite communities and express political agendas, this chapter will analyse why war remembrance in Darwin has become so discernible today.