Marawili was born in Baniyala in Eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. He is the son of Wakuthi Marawili and Mulkun Wirrpanda. Marawili's mother, Mulkun Wirrpanda, is 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, who is also an artist herself, exhibiting with her mother, Galuma Maymuru. In the Madarrpa clan of the Yolngu, Marawili serves as a senior leader, facilitating and leading ceremonies. In addition to leading ceremonies, he ensures the spiritual well-being of his own people as well as the people in other clans. Acting as an activist and administrator, Marawili serves to connect the Yolngu people and non-Aboriginal people, bringing more awareness to the Aboriginal people and serving as a bridge between the two groups.
Career
In the early 1980s, Marawili began painting, incorporating the idea of buwuyak in his works, which was an innovative change in the Yolngu art tradition. His paintings often show the Yathikpa ancestral story of the bay where Bäru turned into a crocodile from a human figure. 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 demonstrates 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 case where Marawili arranged for the Sea Right claim to the Federal Court in 2004. Eventually, the case went up to the High Court, and they gave Yolngu the ownership of the land between high and low mark. Marawili has also won numerous awards with his significant paintings. In 2019, he won the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award with Journey to America, a stringybark piece. In 1996, Marawili had won a NATSIAA award previously with another bark painting. Outside of his life as an artist, Marawili has served in many leadership roles to support and bring an awareness to the Indigenous community. Since 1998, Marawili continues to serve as the Arnhem Northern and Kimberley Artists Chairperson. In addition to serving as the ANKA Chairperson, his roles and involvements include: Buku-Larrnggay Mulka, Yirrkala Chairperson ; Laynhupuy Homelands Committee Chairperson ; Northern Land Council Councilor ; Nambara Homelands School Board Member ; Buku-Larrnggay Mulka, Yirrkala Board Member, Australia Council, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Fellowship ; Australia Council Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Board ; ORIC Governance Training for ANKA Directors ; Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre, Certificate II in Indigenous Leadership, Australia Council Financial Skills for Arts Organisations workshop, General Division of the Order of Australia Awarded Member ; YBE Enterprises Board Member; Yipara - Laynhupuy Homelands CDEP Supervisor.
