Koorie Heritage Trust

The Picture Collection contains more than 900 items ranging from historic paintings from the late 19th century by William Barak and Tommy McRae to contemporary paintings, drawings, collages and digitized images. A number of historical engravings from 19th century newspapers are also kept in the collection, depicting Koorie life and cultural practices from a European point of view. Most artworks are purchased directly from the artists.

The late 19th century works by Barak and McRae are particularly special to the Trust as depictions of Koorie life from a Koorie perspective during this time period are rare.
William Barak, a ngurungaeta (clan leader) to the Woiwurrung/Wurundjeri people, used art as a way to record the traditional ways of his culture and pass this knowledge on. Barak would often paint images of traditional ceremonies.

Kwatkwat artist Tommy McRae’s ink drawings depict scenes of Aboriginal life. Some of these drawings include images of William Buckley, an escaped convict who was accepted into the Wathurung group with whom he lived for 32 years during the early 1800s.

The Trust is also fortunate to hold a number of paintings by the highly acclaimed Yorta Yorta artist Lin Onus. Lin often focused on political and personal issues such as the Stolen Generation in his artworks including ‘On the Deniliquin Road’ and ‘Exile’. Lin was also a mentor to other Koorie artists such as Gunditjmara artist Les Griggs and Gunnai artist Ray Thomas, whose works are also included in the Trust’s Collection.

Wurundjeri artist Mandy Nicholson’s ‘Platypus’ is a beautiful contemporary artwork which tells a story about the ‘Dulaiwurrung’ (platypus), who likes to hide in the ‘black wood wattle roots’ along the river banks. In this painting, the Dulaiwurrung is seen ‘searching for food around the pebbles and still water.’ (Mandy Nicholson, 2001)