Womens Dreamings tell the story of the journeys of female ancestors. Similar to men, women have important religious status and possess their own land tracts and ground designs. During their sacred ceremonies, participants paint their breasts, shoulders and upper arms with patterned designs relating to a particular dreaming. Songs are sung re-iterating ancient journey cycles that pass knowledge but also draw the ancient ancestors closer to the community. Occasionally, woman will dance and re-enact those journeys; moving their feet through the sand and leaving a symbolic pathway.

Bush Tucker Dreamings references the search for bush tucker across the Central Desert landscape. Bush tucker is freely available for those who know where to look. Women are the principle gatherers, always on the lookout for food, edible roots, plants and seeds. Seasons denote the different varieties of food available and combined with the natural elements of sun and rain determine the abundance of Bush Tucker. One’s knowledge and ability to locate foods within the Desert is central to Aboriginal life, not only a means of survival but also a way of ensuring Aboriginal continuance- human fertility and reproduction.

This painting describes the search for bush tucker across the Central Desert landscape which is an important part of Aboriginal life. Not only as a means of day to day survival but as a way of ensuring the continued fertility of human and ancestral populations. Bush tucker is freely available for those who know where to look. Women are the principle gatherers, always on the lookout for food, edible roots, plants and seeds. Seasons denote the different varieties of food available and when combined with the natural elements of sun and rain, determine the abundance of Bush Tucker.

This painting by Josie Petrick Kemarre shows us the area near Utopia, approximately 270 km North East of Alice Springs. The women have been out after the rain, collecting the berries, when they are most abundant.

The story illustrated is not only in the ritual of gathering and eating, There is also an aerial perspective of the earth which shows the ever-changing colours and textures in the Central Desert Landscape and the life cycle of the plant -its growth and form - before and after the rain.