Originally from Arnhem Land, Terry Djambawa Marawili belongs to the artistic community of Yirrkala – a community center bringing together 300 artists who regularly come to deposit their works but mostly live in outstations on ancestral lands where they exercise religious responsibilities. which their works echo or from which they proceed directly. Religious leader of the Madarrpa clan and playing a leading role in relations between Yolngu – as the Aborigines of the region call themselves (the term means “Human Beings”) and the non-Aboriginal population, Terry Djambawa Marawili has always designed his artistic work as a defense of the culture and the rights of its people. Thus, in 1997, he participated in the production of a video which explained the Yolngu notion of “undersea territory” and claimed ownership of the coastal seabed of Arnhem Land on behalf of Aborigines. Practicing as well the engraving, the painting on bark, the sculpture on wood and the realization of ceremonial objects like funerary trunks, the artist obtained, in 1996, the first prize of the "Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award for the quality of his work which owes everything to the desire to celebrate the myths and legends of which he is the ritual guardian and which play a major role in the various ceremonies (initiation, circumcision or mourning) over which he presides.
Public collections:
• Artbank, Sydney
• Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove, Glasgow
• Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
• Lyon Museum, France
• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne |
MY SELECTION OF WORKS
