Maggie Dixon
Amerne Akatyerre - 2006
60 x 30 cm
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Code #:6907
SOLD
Provenance
Mbantua Gallery, N.T
Cooee Art Gallery, NSW
Story
Maggie has painted beautiful fine dot work that represents amerne akatyerre, known as the desert raisin, wild sultana or bush tomato (Solanum Centrale). Amerne means food in Maggie’s language and Akatyerre is the raisin. The clonal under-shrub of the akatyerre can grow on Spinifex sand plains thought Central Australia, often found across from mulga areas. It produces beautiful purple flowers and soft green leaves. The akatyerre grow in good moisture conditions and are heavily dependent on fire to obtain maximum potential. This fruit is probably the most important of all Central Australian plant foods due to its abundance and widespread availability most of the year. Once collected, the Aboriginal people eat the akatyerre raw or grind them into a paste before being consumed. The pasts can also be rolled into calls and dried to store during long periods of drought. This practise is not as habitual now.
There is a Dreamtime story that belongs o the akatyerre for Maggie and the people of Atoola (Bushy Park) country. Ceremonies are performed to demonstrate respect for this story and maintain the existence of the akatyerre plant.
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