Gunnar Neeme published and had his work performed in Estonian and English. He began writing at an early age and, after a period not writing, resumed in Australia in 1952. He also worked in the visual arts, painting, sculpting and printmaking and as a commercial artist, an art and craft teacher, a graphics designer and illustrator and designer of book covers for Estonian publications.
Neeme exhibited and participated in national and international exhibitions in Europe, the Americas, Japan and Australia. All Estonian House buildings in Australia are decorated with his murals and wall sculptures and he published three books of prints and drawings, Terra sigilata (Melbourne, author, 1986), Kalevipoeg Taidelises Nägemuses (Melbourne, Spectrum Publications, 1986) and Impressions of the City of Hawthorn (Hawthorn, Hawthorn Artists Society, 1987).
Neeme also wrote an unpublished fictional work, 'Tuuleraudne' ('Ironwind'), which was based on his wartime experiences, and wrote several plays that were performed by the Estonian Theatre in Melbourne. These include 'Sonajala Ois' (1964), which was also performed in Adelaide, Sydney and Toronto and translates as 'Fern Blossom'; 'Mosaiigid' (1979), which translates as 'Mosaics'; 'Mustade Ristide Maa' (1983), translated as 'Land of Black Crosses'; and 'Inimene Metsas' (1984), or 'Man in Wood'.
Four of his poems have been set to music and included in Estonian concert programs in Australia, Canada and the USA. He was the art director and exhibitions coordinator of the Fifth Estonian World Festival held in Melbourne in 1988. Neeme was a member of the Melbourne branch of International PEN.
