Marawili was born in 1953 in Baniyala, also called Yilpara, in East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.[1] He is the son of Wakuthi Marawili and Mulkun Wirrpanda. Although he had another name at birth, his father chose the name Djambawa just before he died, a powerful name meaning "the source of the fire on the rock in the sea", and another name, Bumbi, meaning "the rock of the fire".[2] His father taught him how to sing, telling him never to forget to do it, and he taught him about the land and his country.[3]
Marawili's mother, Mulkun Wirrpanda (known as Ms M Wirrpanda since her death[4]) was one of the few women in the Yolngu community who is acknowledged as a leader due to her great knowledge of the Dhuji-Djapu clan, and her father is Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda who was a Yolngu leader. She is also an artist, painting on bark, memorial poles, and didgeridoos, and she also has skills in carving, weaving, and printmaking, which have been shown in exhibitions in Australia and Asia.[5]
Marawili is the husband of Liawaday Wirrpanda, and they live in Blue Mud Bay with their children.[3] Wirrpanda is also an artist herself, exhibiting with her mother, Galuma Maymuru.[6][7] In the Madarrpa clan of the Yolngu, Marawili is a senior leader, facilitating and leading ceremonies.[8]
In addition to leading ceremonies, Marawili ensures the spiritual well-being of his people including members from other clans. Along with knowing his own clan's language, designs, and stories, he also is educated on the other clan's.[2] Acting as an activist and administrator, Marawili serves to connect the Yolngu people and non-Aboriginal people, bringing awareness to the Aboriginal people and serving as a bridge between the two groups.[9]
Madarrpa clan
The Madarrpa clan is a clan in the Yirritja moiety. The clan was connected to the Gumatj and Munyuku clans by Bäru, the ancestral crocodile.[10] According the ceremonial beliefs of some Aboriginals from Arnhem land, Bäru connected the clans when he created fire for the first time it across the water. As mentioned above, Djambawa Marawili is a senior leader in the clan who is heavily involved in clan ceremonies. Along with Bäru, Mundukul (Burrut'ji), the ancestral lightning snake is a significant symbol during ceremonies. Another motif seen throughout Madarrpa ceremonies is elliptical sand structure (yinyapunapu). [10] Djambawa Marawili certainly reciprocates the respect he gets from his clan. Djambawa Marawili's dad, Wakuthi Marawili, changed his son's name to Djambawa only when he was confident that his son "had the knowledge...had the wisdom"[11] necessary for such an honorable name.
Career
In the early 1980s, Marawili began painting, incorporating the idea of buwuyak (invisibility) in his works, which was an innovative change in the Yolngu art tradition. Although Marawili is an innovative Aboriginal artist, he does paint most frequently using traditional ochre, a natural pigment, and a paintbrush made using a small piece of hair tied to a stick.[3] His works also often show the Yathikpa ancestral story of the bay where Bäru turned into a crocodile from a human figure. He has also shown stories such as the Burrit'tji and the rainbow lightning serpent.[12] Marawili is passionate about painting the designs and patterns of his land and country. The patterns he uses in his paintings, which were taught to him by his father and are usually carried down ancestrally, are supposed to represent the country and the area where these stories come from. He paints the place where the Yolngu people know.[2] With works that capture both innovation and tradition, Marawili has become one of the most significant artists from the Yolngu community.[13] Because his works capture tradition and historical meanings, the paintings of Marawili are also used as a source of history and records, especially in the legal battle to protect the right of the Yolngu land.[9]
His paintings that portray sacred traditional designs demonstrate the right and purpose to speak for and protect their sea and land. Because of this reason, this portrayal shown in the Saltwater: Yirrkala Bark Paintings of Sea Country exhibition played a significant role in the Blue Mud Bay sea rights case where Marawili arranged for the Sea Right claim to the Federal Court in 2004.
Activism
Marawili is passionate about the socio-political rights of his people and their land. He believes it is important for him to do this because while the land and sea cannot talk, he can, and he must use this platform. As his father died, he told him that he was happy he had the knowledge, both of his culture and of the west which he used to connect the two worlds. Marawili also holds the belief that the government should not be able to tell him what to do because he can learn from them, but they can also learn from him as well. His art is also tied closely to his activism because of the connection between the artistic patterns he painted and the land and sea.[2] This is also portrayed in the Saltwater: Yirrkala Paintings of Sea Country.
"The land has everything it needs. But it couldn’t speak. It couldn’t express itself. Tell its identity. And so it grew a tongue. That is the Yolngu. That is me. We are the tongue of the land. Grown by the land so it can sing who it is. We exist so we can paint the land. That’s our job. Paint and sing and dance. So it can feel good to express its true identity. Without us it cannot talk. But it is still there. Only silent." -Djambawa Marawili AM[12]
These Saltwater bark paintings were used as a campaign to educate people about the Yolngu people and their sacred land. This campaign was taken further and the Yolngu people began to initiate a court case in order to get recognition to their own land. Marawili contributed to this collection with his art work as well and attended the federal court hearing in Canberra. The court ended up not ruling in the Yolngu people's favour and they were not granted the rights to their land. However, they appealed the decision in 2008 the Yolngu people gained legal ownership to the intertidal zone, between high and low tide marks.[14]
A large political problem facing the area was the bauxite and manganese mines being built so close to Aboriginal land. Nhulunbuy, the large bauxite mine, is only 100 meters from Lawnhapuy Homelands and about three hours from Blue Mud Bay, where Marawili lives. Along with the manganese mines located in Groote Eyelandt which is east of Blue Mud Bay. This was very concerning for Marawili and he worries about the absence of work opportunities for the Yolngu people, the decline in education, and the increase in health problems. His main desires for his community are for them to have better education so that people are better able to get jobs and, in turn, he also wants a stronger economic base. Marawili has continued to work hard within his community and outside of it to help his community prosper.[6]
Journey to America (Americalili Marrtji)
Among Djambawa Marawili's most notable artworks is his 2019 piece, Journey to America, for which we won first prize at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. This piece is painted on an enormous slab of eucalyptus bark measuring 270 x 100 cm. In accordance with most of his other art, he uses natural ochres for colour.[15] The piece, which was commissioned for the 2017–19 Kluge–Ruhe Madayin Commission in Charlottesville, VA, was a personal assessment of Djambawa's crucial contribution to the creation of the University's exhibition, where the water moves, where it rests.[12] Djambawa Marawili has spearheaded the effort of Yolngu people and artists in making connections with the United States art realm, as seen through his history with the University of Virginia. Marawili spoke to what Journey to America means to him:
“It's really important to represent our clan groups and our tribes. Sharing the knowledge of this country. The art is still alive. The songs are still alive. The language is still alive. The connections are still alive. I reach out to other cities across the sea…I felt that I had to carry this. Even in my soul, even in my mind [I] have to carry this and reach out to the other world. It is really important for me I have to be really confident with my own patterns and designs. I think it is really written in my soul and it is written in my blood.” (Djambawa Marawili)[15]
Marawili notes how his tangible connection with the ancestors of the Madarrpa clan has inspired him to share their brilliance with other cultures. In Journey to America, Marawili portrays a fusion of Aboriginal culture and artistic motifs with symbols of the European world like the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty is painted at the very top of the bark. However, the main subject of the painting is a depiction of Bäru, the ancestral crocodile, which spans the majority of the bark surface. On the back of Bäru and throughout the rest of the painting, Djambawa Marawili portrays the chained diamond design which is common throughout the Yirritja moiety's art and culture. Bäru is known for creating fire and sending it across the water to different clans (See Madarrpa Clan section). Marawili's mastery is demonstrated through his ability to create a sense of movement in this two-dimensional, static piece of art. In the bottom left corner of the painting is the Coat of Arms of Australia.
Residency
In October 2016, Djambawa Marawili worked as a resident artist at the University of Virginia. Marawili was glad to see popularity of Aboriginal art in United States, as Charlottesville is one of America's hotspots for Aboriginal Art. UVA Law students had the opportunity to witness and learn from his experience with the Blue Mud Bay sea rights case. During his residency, he collaborated with University of Virginia printmaking students to create new work. Two of Marawili's pieces now reside permanently in the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection. [16] Djambawa Marawili's residency at Charlottesville was reminiscent of when John Mawurndjal appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 2005. When John Mawurndjal appeared on Time magazine, he, in many ways, introduced Aboriginal and Arnehm Land art to the global art scene. Djambawa's relationship with the University of Virginia and the greater Charlottesville area is a microcosm of the connection between Aboriginal Art and the European world.
Music
In 2008, Djambawa Marawili released an album titled "Yilpara, The Mulka Manikay Archives". The album contains 14 songs and runs one hour and 19 minutes in length. The songs are listed below
Outside of his life as an artist, Marawili has served in many leadership roles to support and bring an awareness to the Indigenous community. Roles have included:[1]
Marawili has won numerous awards with his significant paintings. These include the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) first in 1996, and then again in 2019 with Journey to America, a stringybark piece.[34] Other roles and recognition of his work as an artist and a community leader include:[1]
Australia Council, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Fellowship (2003)
Lead curator for Madayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Bark Painting from Yirrkala, Australia, scheduled to tour North America from 2021, the first significant collection of bark painting to tour outside Australia.[35]
Collections
Marawili's work is represented in the following galleries and other institutions:[1]
Where the Water Moves, Where it Rests at Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection (2015-2016)[12]
Related Research Articles
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Nonggirrnga Marawili was an Australian Yolngu painter and printmaker. She was the daughter of the acclaimed artist and pre-contact warrior Mundukul. Marawili was born on the beach at Darrpirra, near Djarrakpi, as a member of the Madarrpa clan. She grew up in both Yilpara and Yirrkala in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, but lived wakir', meaning her family would move frequently, camping at Madarrpa clan-related sites between Blue Mud Bay and Groote Eylandt. Marawili died at Yirrkala in October 2023.
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Buku Larrnggay Mulka Centre. Saltwater: Paintings of Sea Country: the Recognition of Indigenous Sea Rights. Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre in Association with Jennifer Isaacs Publishing Pty Ltd, 2014.
Dettman, Carol. Saltwater: Yirrkala Bark Paintings of Sea Country: Recognising Indigenous Sea Rights. Buku-Larrngay Mulka Centre in Association with Jennifer Isaacs Pub., 1999.
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