Peter Farmer and Peter Farmer Junior: Noongar artists artwork to feature on Australian Olympic team uniforms

Noongar artists and father-son duo Peter Farmer and Peter Farmer Junior are still trying to come to terms with the fact that their artwork has been chosen from hundreds of artists to feature on Australian Olympic team jerseys in Los Angeles in 2028 and in the French Alps in 2030.

Farmers spent six months creating the green and gold contemporary Indigenous artworks, titled Doonch-doonch, Kaymelan, Together, with Torres Strait Islander artist Alick Tipoti, with a bespoke design to represent both cultures on the international stage.

Meaning ‘coming together’ in Noongar and ‘together’ in Zenadth Kes (Torres Gorge), the official team piece is woven from these Indigenous visual languages ​​and honors the 66 known Indigenous Olympians, carried together as a wave, an expression of unity across land, sea and sky.

It represents a common story across generations, communities and cultures.

Peter Snr said he was “very impressed” and “humbled” to be given the opportunity alongside his son, while Peter Jnr added that it was “one of the greatest jobs of his career”.

“There are so many top artists out there to choose from and we are really proud and grateful that they chose us,” said Peter Jnr.

Peter Jnr said he felt lucky to be involved in a project with his father and an “extraordinary” creative team that meant so much to WA and Australia as a whole.

“It’s hard to put it into words, but I think a lot of artists or people don’t get to work with their parents professionally, so to be able to do that I think is very rare,” he said.

“Any work or opportunity that can showcase Aboriginal art or specifically Noongar art from WA I think is a wonderful thing and you know it’s even more incredible that we can do it on a big stage.”

Noongar symbolism consists of connection, community and the importance of water, while Torres Strait Islander people are represented by textile patterns, canoe motifs and constellation stars.

He said he’s still trying to get the emotion out of such a large-scale opportunity.

“In the beginning, because it was an opportunity to present our artworks to the world, it was really difficult to understand all the emotions and everything and even really accept what we were doing as a process,” he said.

“Even now I look at the artwork and look at the process we’ve been through and the last few months of work and I’m just blown away in a way because you don’t often get these works… It’s amazing, everything about it is amazing.”

The farmers hope to go to the Olympics to see their work and are excited to watch the track and field and basketball events.

“I think it’s really important to go there and see the artwork and be part of the fan base of Australian athletes, they represent themselves and all the hard work they’ve put in to get there, but they also represent the artwork and Australia, so it’s something very special,” Peter Jnr said.

The uniform is planned to be introduced within the next six months.

The duo have collaborated on several projects in the past, including working with Coldplay to design artwork on the back of limited-edition t-shirts sold at the band’s Perth concerts in November 2023.

The design consisted of three separate spheres symbolizing the past, present and spirit.