Palaexpo - Roma © Antonio Politano

Violet, shifting leaves and branches, discloses the secret side of the bush. She tells us how, over the centuries, the ancient inhabitants of the place have used what nature offers. She explains the healing properties of bushes and trees. She shows us long palm leaves that can be made into hard-wearing laces or ceremonial necklaces, sugar canes that give daylong energy. With a gesture she lowers a branch from which a sort of bag made of leaves and resin is hanging. She pulls it away and crushes it with her hands, quickly rubbing it. «You have to be quick or they’ll sting». She opens her hands to check if they are ready. «Green ants are very good. They taste like lemon. We give them to our children when they have belly ache, and if you put them in a glass of water, they are very refreshing». «Green ants are the totem of my clan, the Murrumbur». One thinks of Werner Herzog’s movie “Where the green ants dream”, that was shot here in 1984. The story of just another meeting-clash between white and black culture, man and nature. A mining company wants to mine uranium in an area which is considered sacred and where the Aborigines believe the green ants go dreaming. So the Natives oppose the project: according to traditional belief, when the ants stop dreaming, there won’t be any happiness for man any longer. They fight, they bring their case to the Supreme Court, but they lose. But there is an open ending. One of the white men in the company realizes that, maybe, the old lifestyle could preserve the earth equilibrium better

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	Violet, spostando foglie e rami, svela il lato segreto del bush. Racconta come gli antichi abitanti del luogo hanno usato, nei secoli, ciò che la natura offre. Spiega le proprietà curative di cespugli e alberi. Mostra lunghe foglie di palma che si trasformano in stringhe robuste o collane cerimoniali, canne da zucchero che danno energia per un giorno intero. Con un gesto abbassa un ramo, a cui è appesa una specie di sacca fatta di foglie e resina. La strappa via e la schiaccia con le mani, sfregando velocemente con forza. «Pizzicano, bisogna fare in fretta». Apre le mani, controlla se sono pronte. «Le formiche verdi sono buone, sanno di limone, le diamo ai bambini quando hanno male alla pancia e se le metti in un bicchiere con dell’acqua ti fanno passare la sete». «Le formiche verdi sono il totem del mio clan», i Murrumburr. Viene alla mente il film Dove sognano le formiche verdi di Werner Herzog, girato qui nel 1984. La storia di un ennesimo incontro-scontro tra cultura bianca e nera, uomo e ambiente. Una compagnia mineraria vuole scavare in cerca di giacimenti di uranio in una zona ritenuta sacra, dove per gli aborigeni vanno a sognare le formiche verdi. Ma i nativi si oppongono: quando le formiche verdi smetteranno di sognare, per l’uomo non vi sarà più felicità, vuole la tradizione. Lottano, portano la loro causa davanti alla Corte Suprema, perdono. Ma il finale è aperto, qualcuno - tra i bianchi della compagnia - avverte che forse l’antico modo di vivere può salvaguardare di più l’equilibrio della terra	Violet, shifting leaves and branches, discloses the secret side of the bush. She tells us how, over the centuries, the ancient inhabitants of the place have used what nature offers. She explains the healing properties of bushes and trees. She shows us long palm leaves that can be made into hard-wearing laces or ceremonial necklaces, sugar canes that give daylong energy. With a gesture she lowers a branch from which a sort of bag made of leaves and resin is hanging. She pulls it away and crushes it with her hands, quickly rubbing it. «You have to be quick or they’ll sting». She opens her hands to check if they are ready. «Green ants are very good. They taste like lemon. We give them to our children when they have belly ache, and if you put them in a glass of water, they are very refreshing». «Green ants are the totem of my clan, the Murrumbur». One thinks of Werner Herzog’s movie “Where the green ants dream”, that was shot here in 1984. The story of just another meeting-clash between white and black culture, man and nature. A mining company wants to mine uranium in an area which is considered sacred and where the Aborigines believe the green ants go dreaming. So the Natives oppose the project: according to traditional belief, when the ants stop dreaming, there won’t be any happiness for man any longer. They fight, they bring their case to the Supreme Court, but they lose. But there is an open ending. One of the white men in the company realizes that, maybe, the old lifestyle could preserve the earth equilibrium better