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Catalogue Number: 25/43
The theme of this artwork is women collecting bush tomatoes and bush oranges while hunting out bush with family.
The bush tomato plants are small that grows everywhere in Central Australia especially along the road. It grows well in the desert climate. It tastes a bit tangy and can be eaten on its own. The sundried fruit is usually collected in Autumn and Winter. When the bush tomatoes are orange or yellow it is ripe and when it’s green it’s not ready to be eaten.
The bush oranges also known as atwakeye in the local language is found in parts of Central Australia. The fruit grows on a tree that’s about 3 metre high. White flowers open during the night. When the fruit is yellow, and soft it’s ripe also you can tell by the smell. When the bush orange is green and hard it’s not to be eaten. The best time to harvest is in the early summer when it’s not very hot.
The footprints show the women and children looking for bush tucker. The curved lines are Aboriginal women sitting down with digging sticks harvesting bush tucker into their coolamon. They carry their digging sticks around so they can pull down bush tuckers that are on tall trees.