Ngarra: The Texta Drawings

The Texta Drawings serves as an important testimony to an exceptional artist. Additionally, it is a means of honouring and perpetuating Ngarra’s desire to record his extensive knowledge of law, geography and culture for future generations. If it were not for this publication, the valued heritage resource of a unique hunter-gatherer, footwalker of country and stockman would tragically be lost following his passing late in 2008.

Meeyakba Shane Pickett

Meeyakbais a publication that celebrates the life and work of the preeminent Nyoongar artist of his time, and one of the great painters of the Western Australian landscape. Exploring his career through his numerous phases of art-making, the book sets Pickett’s paintings against the history of Nyoongar country and the knowledge of the Balladong and Jdewat elders who informed his work.

Pickett’s Nyoongar name Meeyakba, or ‘soft light of the moon’, captures the gentle spirit of an artist who set a beacon for those who follow him. He developed an innovative visual language to capture the landscape and climate of the Southwest, showing the history and culture of his people in breathtaking and ever-changing images. He was a leader for Nyoongar artists and an advocate for their advancement, yet his modesty, humility and quiet receptiveness was the engine for singular achievement.