Australiana wall art spent a few decades exiled to souvenir shops, and it did not deserve it. Somewhere between the tea towels and the novelty stubby holders, we forgot that Australian subjects — our birds, our light, our colours — are genuinely some of the best material an artist can work with. The new wave of australiana prints treats them that way: as art first, iconography second. This guide is about that modern version — what it looks like, how to style it, and why it might be the most meaningful wall in your house.
What modern Australiana looks like
The old Australiana was literal: a map, a flag, an opera house. The modern version is atmospheric — it captures how this place feels rather than listing its landmarks. Think native birds painted with real character, botanical forms, and palettes lifted straight from the landscape. The test is simple: would the piece hold its own as artwork if you did not recognise the subject? Everything in our Australiana collection — all original designs by Australian artist Rimmy Gurm, designed in Australia — is chosen to pass it.
Native birds: the kookaburra leads
If modern Australiana has a mascot, it is the kookaburra — sculptural, watchful, and carrying more personality per feather than any bird has a right to. A kookaburra print works framed in oak against a white wall as convincingly as any abstract, and a kookaburra canvas gives the bird the scale and texture it deserves in a living space. There is also more meaning in the subject than most people realise: joy and good humour from that famous laugh, a touch of luck, and family — kookaburras raise their young in loyal family groups. (Our kookaburra symbolism and meaning guide goes into all of it.) Beyond the kookaburra, the broader Australian wildlife collection keeps the native cast growing.
Eucalypt greens and ochre: the Australiana palette
You can style Australiana through colour alone. The landscape hands you the swatch card: eucalypt and sage greens, ochre and rust reds, wattle gold, bleached bone and stormy blue-grey. These tones are why Australiana art integrates so easily into contemporary Australian homes — they already match the timber, linen and stone most of us decorate with. A trick we love: pick one artwork colour and repeat it once in the room (a cushion, a throw, a vase) so the piece feels rooted rather than parachuted in.
Styling Australiana without the kitsch
Three rules keep it elegant. First, quality over quantity — one strong kookaburra beats a wall of assorted marsupials; a themed cluster is where kitsch creeps back in. Second, frame it like art, because it is: oak, black or white frames on paper prints, or a floating-frame canvas, give native subjects the same treatment a gallery would. Third, mix it in — hang Australiana alongside abstracts and botanicals rather than quarantining it, and it reads as taste, not theme. In kids' rooms, the same subjects turn gently educational — a friendly native bird in a soft A4 or A3 frame is a lovely first artwork for the smallest walls.
The gift that says "home": Australiana for overseas friends
Australiana art is the perfect answer to the hardest gift brief: the expat, the exchange student heading home, the family overseas. A piece of Australian wildlife on the wall in London or Toronto is a daily hit of home that no care package matches. Practical notes: unframed art prints are the format we ship beyond Australia — New Zealand at a flat AUD $15 per order, other destinations calculated at checkout — and an unframed print also travels safely in luggage (in a dedicated cardboard tube) if you would rather hand it over in person. Prints start from $55 AUD unframed.
Shop Australiana prints and canvas
Browse the range by format: Australiana art prints on art paper (unframed, or framed in oak, black or white) or Australiana canvas in stretched and floating-frame styles — plus the full wildlife collection for the wider menagerie. Everything is printed and hand-framed in Australia, arrives ready to hang, and ships free with tracking Australia-wide.
Frequently asked questions
What is Australiana art?
Artwork built on Australian subjects and colours — native birds and flora, landscape palettes of eucalypt, ochre and bone. The modern version treats them as fine art rather than souvenir imagery.
How do I style Australiana without it looking kitsch?
One strong piece rather than a themed wall, proper framing (oak, black or white, or a floating-frame canvas), and mix it among abstracts and botanicals so it reads as art, not decoration.
Are kookaburra prints good for a nursery?
Wonderful — friendly, characterful and gently educational. An A4 or A3 framed print suits nursery wall scale; the colourful kookaburra pieces are the classic pick.
Can I send Australiana prints overseas?
Yes — unframed art prints ship to New Zealand for a flat AUD $15 and to other international destinations with shipping calculated at checkout. Framed prints and canvas ship within Australia only.
Hang a little of the country on the wall — start with the Australiana collection: original Australian designs, hand-framed here, free tracked shipping Australia-wide.
