Artwork & Objects

Our artworks and objects collection contains over 3,900 items including historic artefacts and contemporary artworks ranging from boomerangs, shields, spear throwers, clubs, canoes, baskets, eel traps and possum-skin cloaks to carved emu eggs, ceramics, t-shirts, jewellery and sculpture. The oldest items are in our stone tools collection, which includes flints, grinding stones and axes.

Included in our artworks and objects collection is our Picture Collection, which contain more than 900 items including 19th century paintings by William Barak and Tommy McRae, contemporary paintings, drawings, collages and digitised images. We also hold a number of historical engravings from 19th century newspapers depicting Koorie life and cultural practices from a European point of view.

An important role of our Artworks and Objects Collection is to show how Koorie culture continues to evolve. Traditional crafts, designs and stories are still being used across a wide range of contemporary media demonstrating how materials and crafts have adapted and changed over time. Our collection also reflects the diversity of objects and designs from South-Eastern Australia and how they are unique and distinct from other areas of Australia.

Hear Nerissa Broben, previous Senior Collections Curator, talk about how the artist Tommy McRae provides a valuable Koorie perspective from the late 1800s through his drawings in our collection. See more of the Koorie Heritage Trust’s Artworks and Objects Collection.