Press and Editorial
Custodian of the Fire
21-22 May, 2005Miriam Cosic
» View Custodian of the Fire exhibition
Djambawa Marawili strides across many landscapes. A key figure in contemporary Yolngu art, he is the senior lawman of the Madarrpa clan, 130 people who live at Yilpara on Blue Mud Bay, 800km east of Darwin. They have no mains electricity, running water or radio reception but they have never been alienated from their country and have a strong hold on their traditions.
A handsome man of quiet intensity, Marawili is also a minister of religion, an indigenous adviser to the Australia Council, a member of the Northern Land Council, and activist for indigenous fishing rights and chairman of the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists. While he was a boarder at Kormilda College in Darwin, his father sent him a tape of Madarrpa songs to keep his connection with his country strong. Today, he is a bridge between cultures.
"My role is to care for those art centres, and those areas that want to run their own show," he says of his work at ANKAAA, "to help people build up their own organisations, to care for the land, and look after their communities and families, to make a life again through their art. Art is their resource.
"I am the face," he adds modestly, "that the Government can talk to."
[excerpt only]
» View Custodian of the Fire exhibition
Djambawa Marawili strides across many landscapes. A key figure in contemporary Yolngu art, he is the senior lawman of the Madarrpa clan, 130 people who live at Yilpara on Blue Mud Bay, 800km east of Darwin. They have no mains electricity, running water or radio reception but they have never been alienated from their country and have a strong hold on their traditions.
A handsome man of quiet intensity, Marawili is also a minister of religion, an indigenous adviser to the Australia Council, a member of the Northern Land Council, and activist for indigenous fishing rights and chairman of the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists. While he was a boarder at Kormilda College in Darwin, his father sent him a tape of Madarrpa songs to keep his connection with his country strong. Today, he is a bridge between cultures.
"My role is to care for those art centres, and those areas that want to run their own show," he says of his work at ANKAAA, "to help people build up their own organisations, to care for the land, and look after their communities and families, to make a life again through their art. Art is their resource.
"I am the face," he adds modestly, "that the Government can talk to."
[excerpt only]