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Catalogue Number: 25/293
This painting tells the story of Aboriginal women gathering bush tomatoes, a traditional bush food that grows wild across Central Australia. After a big rain, the desert plants wake up. And the green fruits begin to grow. As the sun warms the country, the fruit slowly turns yellow. This is when the bush tomato is ripe and ready to eat. If the fruit stays on the plant and dries in the sun, it turns brown. Even then, it is still good to eat and has a different flavour.
The yellow fruit has a sharp, tangy taste when it is fresh. When the fruit dries naturally on the plant, it becomes earthy and slightly sweet. Families have enjoyed these fruits for generations.
The curved shapes in the painting show the women sitting on the ground as they work together. Beside them are their digging sticks and an oval-shaped coolamon. A coolamon is a wooden bowl that Aboriginal women used in the old days for collecting food.
Learning how to find and identify the bush tomato is passed down from mothers, aunties, and grandmothers to daughters and nieces. It helps families stay connected to their country, their culture, and the stories that have been shared for many generations.