artist – Bessie Purvis Pitjara

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community – Utopia

title: Bush Plum Flowers

year painted: 2024

dimensions: 96 x 40cm
medium: Acrylic on canvas
code: 175N

stretched: no

This artwork can be viewed at our Noosa gallery.

about this painting:  In this painting Bessie depicts the Anwekety (bush plum) and it’s traditional story, knowledge that has been passed down to her.

Anwekety is the Anmatyerre word for conkerberry (or conkleberry), a sweet black berry that is favoured by desert aboriginals. They only grow on the plant (Carissa lanceolata ) for a few weeks of the year, however the aboriginals collect plenty of them and store them dry, soaking them in water again before being consumed. This fruit looks very similar to a plum, which is why it is often referred to in English by the Anmatyerre people as ‘bush plum’. There is a Dreamtime story for the Anwekety that belongs to the people of Ahalpere country in the Utopia Region. This means that anyone belonging to this country can be taught it and hold ceremonies to ensure its productivity. In the Dreamtime, winds blew from all directions, carrying the anwekety seed over the ancestors’ land, in Ahalpere country. The first anwekety of the Dreamings then grew, bore fruit and dropped more seeds. Many winds blew the seeds all over the Dreaming lands.

View all artworks by Bessie Purvis Pitjara