Dianne Dixon - Women collecting bush tomatoes

Catalogue Number: 26/138

This painting tells a story about bush tomato’s that grow after the rain in the Central Desert area. The local women living in this area go out into the bush to collect this fruit. The brown curved shapes in the painting represent the women sitting on the ground, they have their digging sticks beside them. The oval shapes are coolamons – a wooden bowl used for collecting food into that were used in the old days. When the bush tomato is yellow it is ripe and ready to eat, sometimes the fruit dries and turns brown in the hot sun, this is still good to eat.

Aboriginal families living in remote Central Australia go out and collect the fruit when it is is ready. The knowledge of what these plants look like and where to find them helps families stay strong and connected to their Country.