Acting Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre CEO Bree Lennard said when she arrived at work on April 11, she was surprised to find an internal glass door wide open, "which wasn't open the night before" when she was the last person to leave the building.

The door is part of a heavy stowed-away sliding door used to separate parts of the gallery.

"There were no air conditioners on, there are no windows that could have caused a breeze, and there's not even a room behind the door," Ms Lennard said.

The Acting CEO said she quickly established that no other staff members had entered the building throughout the evening and night, and no intruder alarm had been set off.

"I knew the door wasn't open when I left," she said.

Puzzled, she reviewed CCTV footage together with colleague Jessy Moss, only to be left "screaming and squealing" when the camera revealed paranormal activity inside the arts centre in the middle of the night.

"At around midnight, the door starts moving really, really slowly, and then suddenly swings open."

Ms Moss said she was quite "spooked" at what the camera showed, especially in light of other unexplained events that have happened at the gallery.

"There was nothing there that could have opened the door, we didn't have an earthquake, there's just nothing, and the door is really heavy and hard to open," she said. "It made my hair stand up."

"But we've had a few staff members in the past comment that they had felt a strange presence in the building, and only recently a heavy paint bucket moved and rattled without being touched."

Ms Lennard said only two weeks ago police and fire crews attended the gallery in the middle of the night, when one of the rooms was "suddenly full of smoke".

"We couldn't find the source of the smoke. There was no fire, not inside the building nor outside. Firefighters didn't find anything, but we all saw the smoke in one part of the gallery and we could smell it."

She said upon reviewing CCTV footage of that night she was puzzled, as there was no smoke visible in any of the vision.

For a long time, staff at the arts centre have been joking about the "ghost of Godi", as motion sensor-activated doors regularly open without anyone there to set off the sensor. And on numerous occasions staff have arrived at work to find things had fallen off shelves in the centre's gift shop.

Ms Lennard and Ms Moss said they wondered if the spooky occurrences were linked to some of the artwork within the gallery, or the land the arts centre was built on.

"As part of our permanent collection we had a piece by an Indigenous artist that really drew people in, but it showed people with chains around their necks," Ms Moss said. "Maybe there is something in the collection that we've released, unintentionally."

Both women said they hoped the ghost was "friendly", but they were concerned there may be a more sinister reason behind the encounters.

"Obviously we don't want to upset anyone, but what if it's the ghosts of Godinymayin, who the centre was named after, or an upset spirit," they said.

This theory is supported by Bill Daw, who served as Chairperson on the board for eight years during the construction of the arts centre.

"At the time we consulted with the Northern Land Council and the Traditional Owners of the land where we were going to build the gallery space, and the Dagoman people of the land requested for the centre to be named after Godinymayin, the old man (Elder) who used to hunt wallabies on the land," he said.

Mr Daw recalled Indigenous people were "promised the gallery, once completed, would house the artefacts and sacred items of the Dagoman people and their lore".

"Godinymayin was supposed to be the storage place that preserved the lore and history of the Dagoman people," Mr Daw said. "We made this promise to the Traditional Owners, who have since passed. But .... now white people now run the centre, and the promise was never kept."

Asked what he thought could have caused the strange occurrences at the gallery, Mr Daw said he had "no doubt" that "upset ancestors" were making their presence known.

"Ancestors are still walking the land, and obviously they aren't happy," he said.

Ms Lennard said if Mr Daw's assumption was correct, she was hoping "someone who can talk to spirits" would come forward to help rekindle the relationship between the gallery and its invisible visitor.

She said she was also open to a "smoking ceremony" if that was require to please the ancestors.

The arts centre, which opened in 2012, is currently undergoing extensions, with earth works carried out for a new amphitheatre.

"The goal of the Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts & Culture Centre has always to been to represent all members and cultures across the region and NT, especially our Indigenous culture," Godinymayin Board Member Toni Tapp Coutts said.

"The Board has 12 members, six of which are appointed by the (Northern Land Council). Our operations within the centre are governed through consultation with our Board members with special consideration to the traditional owners that the Centre stands on," she said.

"Whilst staff have reported some 'spooky incidents' within the building, these were personal comments and are in no way the opinion or has ever been discussed at a Board level, so as a whole we cannot comment whether or not our space is indeed 'haunted', however, we can confidently state that the Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts & Culture Centre is open and welcomes all people from across all communities and cultures to visit this beautiful facility."