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Catalogue Number: 25/52
This painting tells a story of Aboriginal women out collecting bush tomatoes which grow in the hot, dry climate of Central Australia. The curved lines in the artwork represent the women sitting on the ground with their digging sticks beside them.
After a big rain, Aboriginal women from remote communities go out into the bush to look for the bush tomato plant, it has green leaves and small purple flowers. Soon, green fruits begin to grow. When these fruits turn yellow, they are ready to eat, sometimes the fruit left in the sun turns brown and dried, this is still good to eat.
This fruit has been a staple fruit for desert dwelling people for thousands of years.
Aboriginal women know where the plants grow and through stories, time on Country, and shared experience, knowledge is handed down—one generation teaching the next.