This Aboriginal depiction of a vineyard in the Yarra Valley was made 120 years ago by a man called William Barak, a leader of the Wurundjeri people who have lived here for tens of thousands of years, long before white people invaded in the early 19th century. The vineyard was planted in 1860 by Swiss settler-vigneron, Samuel de Pury. Despite the dispossession and trauma of colonisation, Barak’s affectionate dedication to de Pury inscribed on the picture makes clear that these two men had formed a close friendship.
The Yarra Valley is a familiar name to you, I’m sure. You’ve probably...