Djambawa Marawili AM was a resident artist October 2016. His residency provided a unique opportunity for UVA students and the Charlottesville community to learn from an Indigenous Australian leader and artist. He gave public talks, spoke at the UVA School of Law about the intersections of Indigenous and non-Indigenous law in regards to sea rights and made new work with UVA printmaking students. Thanks to a gift from Maria T. Kluge, two of Marawili’s dhakandjali were acquired for the permanent collection.
Djambawa Marawili AM is an acclaimed painter, sculptor and printmaker, and is a principal ceremonial leader of the Madarrpa clan of the Yolngu people. He uses art as a tool in his practice as a cultural leader, and many of his artworks express the deep connection of Yolngu people to water and sea. In 1996 he won the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award for the Best Bark Painting for a painting that is in the Kluge-Ruhe Collection. A leader in the interface between non-Aboriginal and Yolngu people, Marawili led a successful campaign resulting in federal recognition of Yolngu sea rights in 2008. He was chosen by the Australian Prime Minister as a member of the National Indigenous Advisory Panel in 2013 and was named a Member of the Order of Australia.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are warned that this website contains the names and images of deceased people.
