79 AM 5651/08
Fabrianne Nampitjinpa Peterson Wangunu: Bush Damper 2008
Acrylic on Italian linen 950 x 1515mm $12230
Fabrianne explains that her painting is about the Wangunu seeds that the women collect for bush tucker. The
women in old times would collect the Wangunu (woollybutt) in big bunches and carry them back to camp where
they would burn the grasslike material on the ashes of a slow fire. This would dry out the remaining seeds that
would then be ground to a flour. This flour is mixed with water and a little salt and baked in the ground to make
damper (bush bread). The imagery reflects the feeling of the seeds in a coolamon or dilly bag flowing around
your hand.