Dreaming Stories from Utopia
Index
A Brief History of Utopia
Aboriginal Art and Dreamings
Aboriginal Dreaming Stories
Aknangkere Growth
Bush Banana Dreaming
Body Paint – Bush Bee
Bush Berry Dreaming
Bush Medicine Dreaming
Bush Plum Dreaming
Bush Potato Dreaming
Bush Raisin Dreaming
Bush Tomato Dreaming
Bush Tucker Dreaming
Campsite Gathering Dreaming
Campsite Protection
Ceremony Shield
Fire Dreaming
Grass Seed Dreaming
Men’s Ceremony
Mountain Devil Dreaming
My Mother’s Country
My Mother’s Country - Anthep
Snake Dreaming
Wildflower Dreaming
Witchetty Grub Dreaming
Women’s Ceremony – “Awelye”
Yam Dreaming
A Brief History of Utopia
Utopia is located two hundred and seventy kilometres northeast of Alice Springs on the eastern perimeter of the Western Desert ‘bloc’ next to the traditional lands of the Eastern Anmatyarre and Alyawarre people. It was named by the first white settlers in 1927 and occupies one thousand eight hundred square kilometres of desert country. It has an arid climate with low rainfall and long hot summers with maximum temperatures exceeding forty degrees Celsius. The winter nights are cold with frosts occurring from late May to early September.
The changes of seasons are virtually non-existent with spring and autumn marked by the appearance of wildflowers and fruits, among the spinifex and bush scrub.
When white man first settled in Utopia, the Aboriginal people were forced to move away from their clan lands and ceremonial sites to live in the vicinity of various homesteads. Many of the men worked as stockmen and the women worked as domestic help in exchange for food rations and second hand clothing. They provided a cheap but important labour force. This changed in 1967 with the passing of legislation that meant Aboriginal people had to be paid as much as their white counterparts.
In 1979 a successful land claim hearing resulted in the community gaining permanent freehold title to the land. The Utopia women played a key role in the successful land claim. Only one year before, the women had learnt the art of batik, in classes run by school teacher Toly Sawkeno and adult educator Jenny Green. The Batik Project enabled the women to establish a source of income in preparation for the land claim hearing. By demonstrating the economic viability of the outstations through sales of their batik, the women justified their legal and moral right to their land.
The Utopia batiks were immediately distinctive displaying a rawness and vitality that was a product of the camp conditions and the women’s attitude to the project. Their batiks captured the attention of various art dealers, and in 1981 Utopia batiks were shown at the Adelaide Art Festival in a major exhibition – “Floating Forests of Silk: Utopia Batik from the Desert”.
In 1987 CAAMA (The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association) took over the running and finances of the Utopia artists and in 1988 CAMMA commissioned a number of batiks from the Utopia artists. Eighty-eight batiks were presented, which then became the opening exhibition at the new Tandanya Aboriginal Cultural Institute in Adelaide in October 1988. The exhibition then toured to Ireland, and was later purchased by the Robert Holmes a Court Collection.
In 1988-1989 acrylic paint and canvas were first introduced to the artists. An exhibition titled “Summer Project: Utopia Women’s Paintings” (The First Works on Canvas) was mounted. It consisted of one hundred small canvases all the same size using four basic colours, black, white, yellow and red ochre. This exhibition was held at the S.H Ervin Gallery in Sydney and the talent of the artists immediately attracted the attention of critics and curators.
With the new media of acrylic paint and linen the artists produced works that were even more distinctive than their batiks. The great Utopia artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye attracted global critical acclaim with her works on canvas, paving the way for other Utopia artists such as Gloria Petyarre, Kathleen Petyarre, Barbara Weir, Nancy Petyarre, Ada Bird and Minnie, Emily, Galya and Molly Pwerle. To this day the work of this important community of artists grows in richness and diversity as the artists continue to experiment with the source of their inspiration – their Dreamings.
Aboriginal Art and Dreamings
Aboriginal painting has undergone a renaissance over the past two decades as artists express the strength and resilience of their ancient religious values and their deep connection to the Australian landscape. Desert communities continue to preserve the content of their ceremonial sand paintings and body paint designs in contemporary acrylic works on canvas. Many are beautiful and exciting designs in which traditional ochre colours are used alongside vibrant blues, greens, reds and oranges. The symbols used to denote meaning in contemporary Aboriginal desert paintings are exactly the same as those found in cave paintings, rock engravings, ceremonial sand designs and body paint. Whether designs are created on the ground or applied to the body for ceremony, or painted on canvas or board as part of the contemporary Aboriginal art movement, the paintings of desert Aboriginal artists continue the symbolic art tradition of the world’s oldest continuous living culture.
Over time Aboriginal people developed an understanding of the relationship between the earth’s natural forces, the flora, fauna and the human species. Central to their beliefs is a “creation” time, a time beyond living memory when ancestors in human, animal, plant and insect form engaged in an epic struggle. During this struggle they made features in the landscape such as rivers, hills, waterholes and special rock formations. The ancestors provide present day Aboriginal people with the source of their symbols, designs, and sacred objects and they continue to influence the seasons, food supplies, life and death.
The Dreamtime refers to all that is known and all that is understood by Aboriginal people regarding their spiritual life, their relationship to country and the way to live. It is as important to them as the bible is to Christians. Each Aboriginal group has their own Dreaming to explain their entrance into life and how their world came into existence. This knowledge is passed on from generation to generation.
The Dreamtime stories teach Aboriginal children about the way to behave within the laws of society. The stories also teach them about the natural world, the physical characteristics of birds, animals, plants and trees as well as how to find food and water all year round.
In many paintings, artists interpret the Dreamtime from an aerial perspective. This may be done by the use of tracks to show meaning and identify particular ancestors. The artists use accurate representations of possum, bandicoot, kangaroo, wallaby, dingo, emu and other bird and animal tracks. The travels of the ancestors in pursuit are shown as lines of human footprints. A wide array of symbols adds further meaning. An arc represents a person seated, concentric circles represent a campsite, campfire or waterhole, a digging stick is represented by a single bar and a coolamon by an oval shape. The placement of these symbols gives an eerie sense of ancient aerial knowledge. Aerial maps of country can show botanical zones, rock formations, rockpools, and camp sites or vegetation, bush fire and rainfall patterns. Dunes, plains, rocks, ridges and river courses may also be marked out. The colours chosen are not necessarily literal representations of foliage and colour in the natural landscape but changes in tone and pattern represent different vegetation, fire or rain patterns. Together they display the artist’s intimate knowledge of their country.
While these symbols may be universally known, the specific meaning of each is generally known in detail only by the artist with clues to the context found within the painting. Meaning can therefore be interpreted on a number of levels, depending on the relationship of the viewer to the artist.
Although the method of painting the Dreamtime may have changed, it has not altered its importance to Aboriginal culture. Aboriginal art has seeped into the public consciousness to be recognised as an international art movement, albeit one with ancient philosophical, religious and spiritual connections.
Aknangkere Growth
Aknangkere Growth by Gloria Petyarre depicts a species of plant found in Gloria's country of Aknangkere in the Utopia region.
This style was created by Gloria in 1998 at the DACOU studio in Adelaide. It is an artistic extension of her well known Bush Medicine Dreaming, which depicts the leaves of a shrub with strong medicinal qualities.
In Aknangkere Growth Gloria paints the branches of a shrub that covers much of the Utopia region. The shrub is found in sandy areas and has dense brown, green leaves and yellow flowers. The branches often cross over one another many times and can be so dense that when out hunting, people cannot pass through unless they burn a pathway.
Gloria paints the dense intertwining foliage with uneven linear strokes that wave in and out across the canvas. Layers of different coloured paint illustrate the density of the shrub. Dispersed haphazardly between these lines are small splatterings of colour to capture how the flowers bloom intermittently on the branches. Gloria also paints blackened areas of burnt bush using a dark base colour with an overlay of bright colours to signal new growth and regeneration after the fire.
Burning is commonplace at Utopia and is essential to the regeneration of different kinds of bush tucker. With just a few layers of different coloured paint Gloria recreates the flora of Aknangkere, celebrating its tangled, wild appearance.
Bush Banana Dreaming
The bush banana is a woody, winding vine with cream flowers and green leaves that grows on other trees and shrubs throughout Utopia.
It is a widely distributed food that fruits after a fall of rain. Mature fruit release seeds which are carried away by the wind to regenerate in new areas. The fruit is both cooked and eaten whole or the seeds are discarded and only the thick outer rind is eaten.
New, young leaves can be collected and eaten raw. The older leaves are steamed and then eaten. The only parts of the bush banana not consumed are the stems and the fine roots, making it an important food source for people.
Bush banana, bush melon, bush plum, bush orange, bush raisin and bush tomato are sometimes depicted together as Bush Tucker Dreaming.
Body Paint – Bush Bee
Body Paint- Bush Bee was painted in 1994 by Lily Sandover in Alice Springs in Central Australia, and is one of a number of works that were commissioned by Fred Torres, owner and Director of DACOU Aboriginal Gallery.
In Aboriginal culture ceremonies are celebrated by both the men and the women of the community but are celebrated separately. Ceremonies are an integral part of Aboriginal life and are occasions to teach the younger members of the community the Dreamtime stories.
In this painting the artist is depicting the body paint pattern that adorns the top half of the women’s bodies for the ceremony. The women crush rocks and mix the powder with animal fat to form a paste. This mixture is applied to the body in different designs appropriate to the ceremony.
The bush bee is a sign of fertility and regeneration in Aboriginal culture which is symbolised by the bees travelling from plant to plant fertilising the flowers. For the Bush Bee ceremony the women sing the song of the bush bee as they dance the bush bee's journey.
By celebrating the bush bee story, the women teach this Dreaming to the younger girls while giving thanks to the spirits that guard the bush bee's journey to ensure that the bee continues its travels bringing fertility to the land.
Bush Berry Dreaming
The Bush Berry vine is widespread throughout Utopia. It grows at the base of a tree and weaves its way to a high branch forming a cluster which then produces many individual vines. Only a small number of these vines will fruit to produce berries in large bunches.
The berry is about half the size of an old one cent piece and comes in a variety of bright colours. These colours are depicted in the Bush Berry paintings. The fruit is sweet to taste and can be eaten as a main meal. As it is only found for six weeks of the year, usually in the summer months after rain, the women often dry excess berries to eat when food is less plentiful.
In Bush Berry Dreaming the artist is paying homage to the spirit of the bush berry vine so that it regenerates year after year to provide food for the community.
Bush Medicine Dreaming
Bush Medicine Dreaming depicts the leaves of a special plant that is used to aid in the healing process.
Women collect the leaves of the bush medicine plant and boil them to extract the resin. The aromatic resin is mixed with fat collected from the kangaroo’s stomach. This medicinal paste can be stored for up to six months in bush conditions.
The medicine is used to heal cuts, wounds, bites, rashes and as an insect repellent.
By painting “Bush Medicine Dreaming” the artist is honouring the spirit of the bush medicine plant in the hope that it will regenerate, enabling people to use its healing powers.
Bush Plum Dreaming
The bush plum is a popular variety of bush tucker that is only found at certain times of the year. It grows throughout most of the Utopia region but it has declined in abundance due to the impacts of cattle and other introduced species.
The bush plum fruits in summer after a fall of rain and is an important food source, even though not all of the plum is edible. Plums can be collected when ripe and eaten immediately or dried and stored to be eaten in times of scarcity.
When young, the fruit is green but as it matures, it becomes a purple-black colour similar in appearance to an olive. The plant can grow up to three metres high with blue-green leaves and a creamy white flower, giving it a very attractive appearance.
To ensure the fruiting of this plant each season, artists pay homage to the spirit of the bush plum by painting it and by celebrating it in their ceremonies.
Bush Potato Dreaming
Traditionally the Bush Potato and the Yam plant were the most important food sources for the Utopia community. The Bush Potato, which has a sweet taste, is not only a food source but an important water source as well. Eating large quantities of bush potato enables people to survive without drinking water for long periods because its water content can be up to fifty per cent.
The plant grows on spinifex sand plains at Utopia and can reach one metre in height with branches that trail along the ground. It has green leaves with pink and red flowers. Like the Yam plant, the Bush Potato is abundant in summer months after rainfall.
The bush potato’s root system can extend up to one metre underground and can be three metres in width. The roots, commonly known as “tubers” can grow as large as a person’s head. Large tubers are less desirable because they are woody and hard but smaller tubers are eagerly sought because they are sweet and juicy. Unfortunately these tubers are found deep underground requiring a great deal of digging by the women.
The skill to find the Yam and Bush Potato is passed down from mother to daughter and the importance of this skill can never be underestimated, as the family relies on the collection of different plants as the staple food when meat is hard to come by. Often women will walk long distances looking for signs indicating the presence of the Yam or Potato. Large areas are then excavated to unearth this food.
Ceremonies are often celebrated to give thanks to the spirit that supplies this important food, and to ensure the plant’s continual regrowth.
Bush Raisin Dreaming
This plant features in many Dreamtime stories and is probably the most important of all the central Australian plant foods because it is widespread and is often abundant and available for most of the year.
The bush is about 30cm high with purple flowers and rusty coloured soft leaves and is found on spinifex sand plains, dune fields and adjacent mulga areas.
The fruit, which hangs on the plant for prolonged periods, is yellow when ripe drying to a chocolate brown colour. Often the dried fruit is ground into a paste before being eaten, or the fresh fruit is rolled into balls and dried and stored for lean times.
The taste of the fruit can vary from very bitter to very sweet, depending on where the plant grows. People have to be careful not to consume too much at one time because it can cause severe headaches or stomach upsets.
Women and children often walk long distances to gather this fruit. Once collected the fruit is taken back to the rest of the community and shared.
By painting Bush Raisin Dreaming the artists pay homage to the spirit of the plant, ensuring it regenerates year after year.
Bush Tomato Dreaming
The Bush Tomato is very different to the supermarket tomato that most people know. This native plant can grow up to one and a half metres tall with grey-green leaves and purple flowers. When young, the bush tomato is green-purple in colour but as it ripens it turns a pale yellow when the mature fruit opens. The centre is filled with black seeds surrounded by an outer skin. People remove the skin and only eat the outer rind which is sweet and a good source of vitamin ‘C’.
The Bush Tomato is plentiful most times of the year except in the summer months. The fruit can be threaded onto sticks and dried to be stored for extended periods and eaten when food is scarce. The bush tomato is a popular bush tucker which is easily found and enjoyed by the whole community.
By painting the bush tomato, the artist is honouring the spirit of the plant and securing future food supplies for the community.
Bush Tucker Dreaming
This painting depicts the variety of bush tucker that is found in the region of Utopia. The most staple food is the Bush Yam which has an extensive root system. At ground level the Yam has bright green leaves with yellow flowers and its branches cover a large surface area.
A few months after rainfall, the plant above ground dies off but Aboriginal women’s skill allows them to identify the location of the roots. Often large areas are excavated in the search for the yam roots, which are the edible part of the plant.
Bush Berry is another type of bush tucker which is found for only six weeks of the year and is a favourite food. Bush Banana, Bush Plum, Bush Raison and Bush Tomato are also popular food plants.
All these foods are collected by the women placed in their coolamons and taken back to the community and shared. What is not eaten is dried and stored away for times when food is scarce. Bush tucker is essential to the survival of Aboriginal people and the skills to identify and find the edible plants are taught to Aboriginal girls at a young age. It is the Aboriginal women’s responsibility to find bush tucker as well as to hunt goanna, echidna, and other small animals. Aboriginal men hunt larger animals such as kangaroo.
By painting “Bush Tucker Dreaming” the artist is paying homage to the spirits of the many different kinds of bush tucker, so that each regenerates year after year to feed the people.
Campsite Gathering Dreaming
An Aboriginal community understands the importance of family and friends and encourages bonding between each family. Each person is responsible for a particular task, such as the gathering of Bush Tucker including Wild Potato, Yam, Bush Plum, Bush Berry, and Bush Banana. Other tasks may include weaving baskets, carving implements, carrying water and clearing the campsite. All tasks are equally important and vital to the smooth running of the community.
In Campsite Gathering, Anna Petyarre depicts the gathering of the community. Women and children have returned from gathering the Bush Tucker and the firewood needed to cook the nightly meal, while the men inspect their spears and talk about where to hunt the best game. The people are dressed in the more traditional way and are using traditional tools such as coolamons, digging sticks and boomerangs.
The "humpees" are spaced slightly apart so that there is some privacy while at the same time people can gather quickly if danger arises. Anna has created a sense of openness and oneness with the land as the people move about under the infinite night sky.
Campsite Protection
In Aboriginal culture, ceremonies play a very important part in each person's life and in the life of the community. Ceremonies are often held at sacred sites where only initiated people may participate. Men’s ceremonies and women’s ceremonies are celebrated separately, although each is as significant as the other.
Areas are decreed sacred sites by the elders of the community and are protected by the spirits that keep unwanted people at bay. These spirits or guardians are often depicted in paintings by the presence of men’s hunting weapons. These implements can be dangerous if used incorrectly and can easily kill both humans and animals. The depicting of these weapons makes it clear that the site which plays a vital part in Aboriginal ceremonies is heavily protected.
It is important that young members of the community are aware of these sites, appreciate their importance to the community, and understand that they may not venture there until they are older and are initiated. To be told of the sacred Dreaming and to be involved in sacred ceremonies are major steps in a young person's life.
Ceremony Shield
Lindsay Bird
In Aboriginal culture, shields used by men are an important weapon for fighting.
Shields are made from wood which have been carved and painted. They are very strong because the wood is carefully chosen for its strength and durability.
In this painting, Lindsay Bird has painted a design that is used on shields.
The central circle depicts a campsite with four tracks that lead to the site. Surrounding the main campsite there are four minor campsites a short distance away. The four campsites belong to different families who will meet at the main campsite on certain occasions.
The dot-work dispersed between these campsites depicts different colours in the landscape depending on whether it is vegetation, flowers, animals, rivers or other landforms.
Fire Dreaming
In Aboriginal culture the land is very important to each individual and from a young age the history of the land is taught. The land provides nourishment for Aboriginal communities and it is the duty of the people to care for their country.
In the dry summer when there is very little rainfall, the conditions are ideal for fires to be started. The fire is important to the people as this burns the undergrowth and allows the regeneration of various plants including vital bush tucker food such as yam, potato, tomato, banana and plum.
The journey of the fire is often depicted by the presence of wide dark areas and the flames of the fire are shown by circular designs surrounded by feathery shapes. Around these areas there is often varied dot work that represents bush tucker which will seed and take root to regenerate and feed the people. By painting Fire Dreaming the artist is paying homage to the spirit of the fire in the expectation that it will guard the community and ensure new growth.
Grass Seed Dreaming
In the Utopia region, there are many varieties of grass. One grass that is found in the spinifex, sand plains, and sand-hills produces a seed that is collected, crushed into flour and made into a paste to produce a bread that is a staple food.
This grass, which is a member of the portulaca family can grow up to fifteen cm high and is reddish in colour. It is found throughout the year, but is particularly abundant after a fall of rain. Due to the grazing impact of cattle and other introduced species the grass is not as plentiful and the seeds are harder to collect.
Traditionally people collected these seeds in an unusual way. Because the seeds ripen at different times of the year, many seeds fall to the ground to be covered by sand and lost from view. Aboriginal people looked for the nesting site of a particular ant. This ant, which had collected the seeds and eaten a certain portion, discarded the rest. The discarded seeds were found in a pile just outside the nest, to be collected, cleaned, ground into a thick paste and cooked into seed cake by the women.
These seeds were an important source of food for Aboriginal people however this bread is not often made today as packaged bread is available from the store.
This story is important to Barbara Weir who in Grass Seed Dreaming depicts the grass with interwoven sinuous strokes covering the canvas. The work may be in multiple colours or variations of a single colour. Sometimes Barbara shows the grass being burnt in hues of orange, red, ochre and brown or she may paint white grass on a black background to give the impression of the grass after it has burnt.
Men’s Ceremony
In Aboriginal culture, ceremonies play an important part and are vital to the health and well being of the community.
Men’s ceremonies and women’s ceremonies are celebrated separately but are of equal significance in the eyes of the community. Due to the secret nature of Men’s Business, which is for initiated men only, very little is told about these ceremonies or about the significance of the body paint used.
What we are allowed to know is that the body paint drawn on young Aboriginal males to be initiated relates to certain stories that are important to the adult initiated males of the community and only when boys come of age can they be told these stories.
The initiation ceremony allows the boy to participate in sacred ceremonies, to visit ceremonial sites and to gain knowledge of the laws and customs. Once initiated, men are expected to uphold the laws and customs.
Mountain Devil Dreaming
Mountain Devil Dreaming celebrates the Thorny Devil Lizard (arnkerrth) that is found throughout central Australia. It is a small, fearsome looking creature but it has a harmless, placid nature and relies on the striking appearance of its ‘thorny’ skin to scare away predators. Its other defence is to change colour to blend easily into the environment.
In Mountain Devil Dreaming, the artist paints the changing patterns of the lizard’s skin. Aboriginal people believe that during the Dreamtime this small lizard collected and carried ochres in a pouch located at the back of its neck. As it walked the land it deposited these ochres in various places throughout the country. Aboriginal people consider the ochre sacred and they use it to paint their bodies for ceremonies.
My Mother’s Country
Barbara Weir was born in the region of Utopia at a place formally known as Bundy River Station. Barbara's mother, who is well known artist Minnie Pwerle, came from a region at Utopia called Atnwengerrp, and it is this country that Barbara paints.
The Dreaming that is the basis for Barbara's My Mother’s Country paintings comes from various ceremonies that are celebrated by the women from Atnwengerrp.
In the underpainting, Barbara often depicts campsites with unbroken concentric circles and abandoned campsites by dotted concentric circles. The campsites are places which people visited as they trekked across the country in search of food and to conduct ceremony. At some meeting places Barbara places u-shapes to represent people seated at the meeting place. Dotted lines which are walking tracks connect each meeting place. Coolamons are wooden carrying implements the women use to collect fruit and berries and may be represented by small semi circular shapes. Barbara also shows the form of a woman’s breast adorned with parallel lines in the way women paint the upper half of the body for ceremony.
Small or large semi-circular shapes in a row depict valleys in the landscape. Winding trails are rivers or streams meandering across the countryside. Small circles often shown along rivers represent the bush melon which is endemic to Utopia. Detailed fine lines are rock pools. There may also be an outline of a person or slightly unusual shapes that convey the spirits that dwell in many plants and animals at Utopia.
Overlaying the under painted motifs is a complex array of multicoloured dots. This dot work disguises certain things that Barbara does not want to reveal and represents different plants found at Utopia including bush tucker foods such as Bush Yam, Potato, Berry, Plum, Banana and the important Grass Seed that was vital to the community’s survival. Traditionally this edible seed was collected, cleaned and ground into a paste by the women to form a Bush Damper or seed cake. There may also be patches of dark colour representing the path of a fire that has swept across the land.
Regarded at close proximity the details of the underpainting are apparent. Observed from a distance the overlay of fine multi coloured dots gives a subtle overall appearance and one needs to search for various motifs that Barbara has incorporated into the painting. While the work is titled "My Mother's Country" each one has slight differences and the different palettes suggest the land in different seasons of the year.
My Mother’s Country- Anthep.
In January 2000 Barbara Weir commenced a series of work that is a further extension of her My Mother’s Country paintings.
These new works represent the women's Dreamtime dance of Barbara's mother's people who paint their bodies with ceremonial body paint and dance and sing and pay homage to the spirits that occupy their land Atnwengerrp. As they dance, they stir up the dust and the rock of the earth and their dance steps create trails that are firmly imprinted in the earth. Barbara paints the linear lines across the canvas to depict these dance trails. The word 'Anthep" means 'dance’ and is the key inspiration for these paintings.
Another main feature is a dominant landmass that dwarfs the countryside. This landform could be a riverbank, a riverbed, a rock formation or a cave that is always culturally significant. These formations are represented by a dense coloured area that can take up a large part of the canvas.
Surrounding these trails and landforms is the layout of the countryside that may include small hills, bluffs, ravines and a variety of bush tucker. Barbara depicts the multiplicity of flora and fauna in different coloured dot work depending on the season.
Snake Dreaming
'Snake Dreaming" tells the story of the journey of two snakes during the Dreamtime.
The snakes travel many miles across the country to find a suitable place to lay their eggs and raise their young. As they travel they leave behind a trail which carves out the various contours of the land, giving rise to different formations in the landscape such as hills and valleys.
The use of dot work in this painting depicts the ridges of the land and the different colours show the different terrain the snakes traverse. The green colour represents the rich fertile areas of the land, while beige and brown colours represent the dry, arid regions.
The circular design represents the snake’s nest, which is also a sacred site. Sacred sites are guarded by very powerful spirits to keep away unwelcome visitors, indicated by the snakes encircling the nest.
Wildflower Dreaming
The region of Utopia has a harsh climate, with summer temperatures exceeding forty degrees Celsius. In contrast, winter nights are freezing cold with frosts occurring from late May to early September.
During drought, the vegetation is sparse and the only living plants are the spinifex and the mulga shrubs, which appear withered and dying.
After a fall of rain the landscape changes completely. The dried out spinifex flowers resemble a field of wheat, while the mulga shrub produces dense green foliage and masses of bright yellow flowers. Growing amongst these plants will be a profusion of wildflowers that completely transforms the land.
In Wildflower Dreaming the artist pays homage to the spirit of the flowers. The transformation of the land means new growth and regeneration, and plenty of fresh Bush Tucker, which is important for the community’s well being.
Witchetty Grub Dreaming
The Witchetty Bush is a plant which flourishes in the foothills and limestone areas. At one time the plant was abundant, but the grazing of cattle during drought has killed these plants and their numbers are now greatly reduced.
The witchetty bush is very important because of the large number of grubs, known as witchetty grubs that are found in the roots of the plant. These grubs which are the larvae of a large moth are high in protein and fat and are an important food source. Once the root is exposed the person follows the path of the shallow root which is easily traced. Large swellings indicate the presence of witchetty grubs. If no exit holes are found, the root is broken open at the swelling to reveal the grub. If the grub is injured when the root is broken open, it is eaten immediately. Mostly the grubs are collected and taken back to the community to be lightly roasted over hot coals and eaten.
Not all Witchetty Bushes will yield the grub, especially in sandy areas. Moths that emerge from the root after heavy rainfall in the summer months are also eaten.
Women’s Ceremony – “Awelye”
In Aboriginal culture, ceremonies are focal points in the life of the community. They are held for different purposes, but are integral to the happiness and well being of the people. The people dance and celebrate to acknowledge the fertility of the land, the health of the people, and the initiation of young men or to mourn the passing of a loved one.
For Women’s Ceremony the women smear their bodies with animal fat and then trace ceremonial designs appropriate to the particular ceremony on the top half of their body using a variety of powders ground from charcoal and yellow and red ochre. The most senior women of the clan group lead the dancing and singing.
The body paint designs vary from ceremony to ceremony and depend on the subject and the time of year the ceremony is held. Different symbols are painted on the body and may even vary from person to person, depending on the seniority of each member.
The women’s ceremony is celebrated separately from the men’s ceremony, though each is viewed as of equal significance by the community. Through their ceremonies the people are demonstrating their respect and love for the land.
Yam Dreaming
Yam Dreaming is an important Dreaming to Anna Petyarre and her family and is featured in many of her paintings. Anna is the senior custodian of Yam Dreaming at Utopia. The yam is a tuber with a complex root system and is a highly desired bush tucker food.
Previously Anna depicted the Yam Plant using very bold colours and a combination of lines representing the roots with dispersed dot work representing the seeds of the plant.
In 1998 Anna further developed her Yam Dreaming style and now uses a complex array of fine dot work and less of the earlier linear design. This creative development demonstrates Anna's creativity. In the new paintings, the centre of the plant is most often depicted by semi circular shapes and extending from this design are elongated sections that Anna usually paints on opposite corners of the painting. These long elongated sections represent the large, complex root system characteristic of the yam plant which can extend up to twelve metres underground.
Anna normally uses light browns and ochres to represent the ground, while the darker brown is used for the root system emphasizing the richness of the earth. Light fine dots feathered across the surface of the canvas represent the flowers of the pencil yam.