Djambawa Marawili

Djambawa Marawili (born 1953) is an Aboriginal Australian artist known for bark painting, wood sculpture, and printmaking.

Marawili was born in 1953 in Baniyala, also called Yilpara, in East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.

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".

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.

Marawili's mother, Mulkun Wirrpanda (known as Ms M Wirrpanda since her death ) 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.

Marawili is the husband of Liawaday Wirrpanda, and they live in Blue Mud Bay with their children.

Wirrpanda is also an artist herself, exhibiting with her mother, Galuma Maymuru.

In the Madarrpa clan of the Yolngu, Marawili is a senior leader, facilitating and leading ceremonies.

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. 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.

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.

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).

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" necessary for such an honorable name.

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.

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.

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.

With works that capture both innovation and tradition, Marawili has become one of the most significant artists from the Yolngu community.

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.

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.

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.

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

These Saltwater bark paintings were used as a campaign to educate people about the Yolngu people and their sacred land.