"We are Yolŋu and we got power from our paintings, singing, songs and dancing," the artist said.
"I think this is very important, to tell the story for the world and share our culture."
His artwork, Gamata - flames beneath the sea, is part of the major winter exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, titled Yolŋu Power: Art of Yirrkala.
The show features eight decades of work from more than 70 artists connected to the small community of Yirrkala in East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
In just one example of how art from this area is regarded globally, 42-year-old Marawili has recently returned from New York City.
He travelled there for the final instalment of an exhibition of Yirrkala bark painting, that has been touring the US for the past three years.
Rock bands Yothu Yindi and King Stingray also hail from the region, along with Marawili's own musical outfit, Garrangali band.
Artists connected to Yirrkala were among the first Indigenous Australians to deploy their art for political ends, as an expression of cultural identity.
In 1963 the Bark Petitions were created in Yirrkala to protest against bauxite mining: the first documents showing First Nations relationships to land to be recognised by federal parliament, they mark the beginning of the land rights movement.
The previous year in 1962, the documentation of creation stories in the Yirrkala Church Panels helped kickstart the Aboriginal art movement.
The Art Gallery of NSW's relationship with Yirrkala's Aboriginal-owned art centre, now known as the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre, stretches back decades.
While the exhibition has been developed over several years, it's the first major curated show under recently appointed director Maud Page.
"Art from Yirrkala has really had an explosion internationally, and about time," she said.
Page said AGNSW was the first institutional gallery in Australia to display work from the centre as art, rather than cultural objects.
Yolŋu Power has been installed in the gallery's new Naala Badu building, the same space that has housed blockbuster shows by French-American artist Louise Bourgeois and Chinese artist Cao Fei.
The Yolŋu Power exhibition is structured around significant developments in art from the region, from bark painting to printmaking, digital installations, and sculptures of discarded metal.
The show opens with a video projection showing daily life in Yirrkala, followed by an installation of dozens of towering carvings of Moku spirits.
Rooms of bark paintings show off traditional styles, while a display of prints demonstrates how the adoption of this medium gave rise to the use of brilliant colours and everyday, rather than sacred, subjects.
Then there's digital art: a room of animated projections that dance across the floor of the gallery and over the shape of a termite mound, accompanied by music.
The exhibition runs until October 6.
AAP travelled with the assistance of the Art Gallery of NSW.
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