I had been working with the Aboriginal people of Papunya when one afternoon they offered to take me to one of their special places. Here, in a sea of red dust and spinifex, a ghost gum had somehow taken root, surviving against all common expectation. When the rains came, at remote intervals, a small flood ran along this shallow watercourse, supplying enough moisture to sustain the tree through the tough times. Everything is subtle in the desert, and yet it has its own wealth for those with patience enough to learn its secrets. To the Aboriginals, this landscape is like a stroll through a marketplace - the very soil yields food and medicine. Even the spinifex, so prickly and stiff, supplies gum to hold spearheads in place. Opportunity, It seems, is simply a matter of perspective.
I had been working with the Aboriginal people of Papunya when one afternoon they offered to take me to one of their special places. Here, in a sea of red dust and spinifex, a ghost gum had somehow taken root, surviving against all common expectation. When the rains came, at remote intervals, a small flood ran along this shallow watercourse, supplying enough moisture to sustain the tree through the tough times. Everything is subtle in the desert, and yet it has its own wealth for those with patience enough to learn its secrets. To the Aboriginals, this landscape is like a stroll through a marketplace - the very soil yields food and medicine. Even the spinifex, so prickly and stiff, supplies gum to hold spearheads in place. Opportunity, It seems, is simply a matter of perspective.