When Vincent Namatjira was living in Perth as a teenage ward of the state, a school excursion brought him face-to-sail with a replica of the HMS Endeavour, the vessel that fatefully delivered James Cook to Dharawal country in 1770. After his teacher announced there would be a prize for whoever drew the ship, the young Vincent got sketching.
“Yeah, I won the prize,” Namatjira tells Guardian Australia with a grin, decades later. “That’s the first time.”
