Historical information

noombapee is an etching and lithograph by Gunditjmara and Keerray Woorroong artist Vicki Couzens. Couzens is a multi-disciplinary artist focused on strengthening her language and culture through research and creative projects. noombapee was created during a 2018 Collie Print Trust Printmaking Fellowship at the Australian Print Workshop.

The work is an example of Couzens’ reclamation and celebration of Indigenous languages. The title is a Gunditjmara term which approximately translates to ‘have mercy’ or ‘forgiveness’. The word ‘noombapee’ appears multiple times in the lower right corner of the composition.

The left side of the work includes a letter to the editor of the Warnambool Standard, dated 3 April 1940 and authored by Vicki’s ngapoon (paternal grandfather), Nicholas Couzens. Couzens explains that ‘he was an activist and advocate for our rights living on the Framlingham mission.’