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Published by on September 13, 2026

Bush Banana

Marsdenia australis has many different names in Aboriginal languages but is commonly known as the bush banana, silky pear or green vine. The flowers hang in clusters and can also be eaten, as can the main part of the plant itself. Bush bananas are cooked in hot earth beside the fire or eaten raw when young (the flavour has been likened to fresh peas). The root of the plant is called Merne Atnetye and can also be eaten raw or cooked. The very white roots are cooked in the hot earth close to the fire. All parts of the bush banana plant are prized and are still eagerly sought out and eaten in the desert.

Gwen reflects on her time working as a ranger at Kings Canyon, ” I collected a bog mob of bush banana at Watarrka (Kings Canyon) when I was working as a ranger there. I would show all the tourist. I would collect other bush tucker too like bush tomatoes. My Country is Watarrka, from my Grandmother’s side. When we go to stay we go right by the resort there.’

Categories: Tangentyere Artists

Name: Gwen Gillen

Language: Luritja

Community: Alice Springs

Biography:

'My family comes from the Kings Canyon area - Ulpanyali outstation. I did a big mob of paintings at Kings Canyon and sold them to tourists from Germany. I did ranger training at Kings Canyon and worked as a tour guide there. We painted a mural at the clinic at Kings Canyon'.

Gwen was educated in Darwin at Nightcliff Primary and High schools, before returning to Watarrka. Gwen has painted independently and with Tangentyere Artists since 2006. She explains:

'Now I am living and painting in town. I worked at the Community Centre at Karnte [Town] Camp, and now work with the Tangentyere Women's Family Safety Group. I love participating in different kinds of arts activities like printing, ceramics and painting, and working for Aboriginal people.'

Gwen participated in creating a mural at the Karnte Town Camp Community Centre in 2013. She has participated in a wide range of projects at Tangentyere Artists over the years, including the Selfies project with both paintings and prints on paper during which Tangentyere Artists partnered with Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, and a ceramics project during which Tangentyere Artists partnered with Charles Darwin University. Gwen has also served as an elected member of the Tangentyere Council Board of Directors.

Gwen's painting style is scrupulously neat and ordered. Through repetition with minor variation, Gwen creates a compelling pattern on the canvas, rather like a mandala that tends to mesmerise her audience. She has been collected by Ian Thorpe. Gwen's patterns reminded him of Moorish artworks he had seen in his travels around the Mediterranean.

Gwen's works feature those Tjukurrpa that span her Country, including bush tucker, bush flowers, and bush medicine. Although she lives in Alice Springs, she regularly visits home, and holds her beloved Watarrka region dear to her heart.

© the artist / art centre