Gabriel Maralngurra, also known by his clan name Nawakadj Ngalangbali, (1968-2025) was a leading Kunwinjku speaking artist, author, and researcher in West Arnhem Land, Australia. As an Aboriginal artist, he was well-known and respected within his community for the wide range of responsibilities he took on, especially mentoring new generations of artists at the local art centre, Injalak Arts. His artwork is displayed in various collections including the Australian Museum, Museum Victoria, and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia. Maralngurra’s paintings have been cited in global archaeological discourse as active interventions that assert Indigenous agency and reinterpret colonial histories through art.
Early life Born 18 July 1968 and raised in Kunbarlanja, Maralngurra was the oldest of seven children, born to William and Dolly Maralngurra. Maralngurra belonged to the Yirridjdja moiety and the Ngalangbali clan. He was from the community of Oenpelli (now known as Gunbalanya). Maralngurra's entry into Aboriginal art began through the guidance of his uncle, Thompson Yulidjirri. During his childhood, Yulidjirri brought him to witness the rock paintings on Injalak Hill. This exposure sparked Maralngurra's artistic inspiration, drawing from the richly adorned rock art galleries throughout western Arnhem Land.
In Aboriginal Australian cultures, Dreaming is the word used to explain the origin of life, cultural values, and law of the regions. To Aboriginal peoples, it represents the time when the accessorial spirits progressed over their land and gave it life. As a young boy, Gabriel recalls first being educated about dreaming by his father with the story about the Two Brothers. It is these stories that have been passed down through cultural traditions of body painting, storytelling, song and dance from his ancestry that had great influence on his art.
Career Maralngurra is known for working with ochre on paper, as well as keeping the traditional forms of rock art, while combining new innovative techniques. Since he began painting, his artistic practice has been characterised by the breadth and depth of subjects, as well as fluent linework and highly original compositions. The purpose of many of his paintings are to draw the attention of non-Indigenous viewers who do not understand or even realise his culture exists. The artistic style of the Kunwinjku people from Western Arnhem Land retains a strong influence from the traditional rock art of the area. It is reimagined thematically as a narrative that encompasses a blend of "intense emotions like yearning, passion, supernatural elements, and retribution." With Maralngurra's artwork, he aimed to ensure that the tradition and practice of painting in the Arnhem Land is not lost, but passed down to the younger generations. Maralngurra was one of the key informants used to interpret a major rock art panel depicting a Ubarr (Wubarr) ceremony, helping scholars distinguish the processes and meanings of the ritual, including the identification of moiety-specific roles and sacred elements. Maralngurra stated that in some rock paintings from Injalak Hill, the use of red and yellow figures symbolically represents Duwa and Yirritja moieties, revealing how traditional social structures are represented in visual form. Through these interpretations, Maralngurra preserved knowledge of sacred ceremonies, like the Ubarr, which are no longer commonly practiced. As an artist, his artistic oeuvre covered a diverse range of subjects, spanning depictions of ancestral stories, flora and fauna, as well as scenes portraying the initial interactions between colonisers and Aboriginal people. In these works, Maralngurra would sometimes deliberately include historical inaccuracies. For example, depicting Spencer with his wife and a car that wouldn’t arrive in the region for over a decade. This asserts his work as a historical narrative instead of a documentary account. In Sir Baldwin Spencer (2003), Maralngurra portrayed the anthropologist with x-ray style, which was traditionally reserved for animals or spirits. When asked about this choice, he explained, “He can see right through him, that clever man,” implying a symbolic switch of the human gaze. In doing this, Maralngurra employed innovative techniques when passing down stories, traditions, and practices of his culture in the Arnhem Land. He did this through expressing his relationship with the natural world.
One of Maralngurra's most notable achievements included being one of the founding members of Injalak Arts in the 1980s. Maralngurra was the artist who suggested naming the arts center “Injalak Arts” after the nearby Injalak Hill, a site known for its rock art dating back over 40,000 years, and one of his main sources of inspiration. Injalak Hill remains a centre for tourism due to its decorated rock art imagery from over thousands of year ago. During the "contact" period, artists persisted in creating rock art despite growing encroachments on their territories, diseases, and conflicts on the frontier. Nestled in a remote rock shelter on Injalak Hill, a specific rock painting narrates a unique tale of cultural interaction. Dubbed by Aboriginal traditional owners as the "Buffaroo", it likely blends a traditional motif - the kunj or kangaroo - with a recently introduced creature - the nganaparru or water buffalo. This life-sized painting of the "Buffaroo" likely represents a period of experimentation for the Aboriginal artists as they familiarised themselves with depicting a newly introduced animal in that region.
An important Kunwinjku artist from Oenpelli in Western Arnhem Land, Gabriel Maralngurra has also played a very important role in the Indigenous textile arts movement. Using his position at Injalak Arts, Maralngurra has been extremely vital in the fusion of traditional Kunwinjku designs into modern textile practices. His involvement in the 2012 “Travelling with Yarns” forum in Gunbalanya highlighted his devotion to seeing new areas of Indigenous fabric printing, including aspects from the digital world, all while keeping his culture the same. The forum was used to bring Indigenous artists, designers, and other experts together to talk about the future of Aboriginal textile arts.
His work extends beyond the textile industry, as his paintings come from many ancestral narratives, local flora and fauna, and major historical events, reflecting his mindset which is deeply rooted to Indigenous culture. His art is hugely impacted by traditional motifs and contemporary modes, showing the ever-changing nature of Indigenous art. Maralngurra’s efforts have been nationally and internationally respected, as his works held in the Kuge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, the National Museum of Australia, and the British Museum have all been held in high regard. Through his work at Injalak Arts, Maralngurra continues to preserve and promote Kunwinjku culture.
It is these traditional rock art paintings that continued to inspire Maralngurra's paintings. His artworks often illustrated local fauna, spirit figures such as the Mimih spirit, and Dreaming narratives (or djang). However, he always found a way to add his own narrative flair and eternal coherence that is unique to art in the Arnhem Land.
Gabriel Maralngurra’s work in the Aboriginal art field extends beyond his artworks; he is also a translator, artistic mentor, tour guide, and co-researcher in the worlds of Aboriginal and colonial history. As the founding member and co-manager of Injalak Arts, he has been an important part in the development of Indigenous art and preservation of his culture in western Arnhem Land. His involvement in these affairs, including his commitment to the traditional and artistic sides of his community show just how important his culture’s heritage is to him.
In the 2024 publication "Aboriginal Rock Art and the Telling of History," Maralngurra's work is featured prominently, highlighting his integration of history, archaeology, and Indigenous artistic practice. The book presents his artwork as a means of challenging traditional academic narratives, demonstrating how history has been literally painted 'on the rocks.' By showcasing Maralngurra's art, the publication offers new insights into the medium of rock art and emphasizes the limitations of conventional methods in understanding and conveying the past.
Maralngurra’s work plays an important role in the field of contact rock art. His paintings show the shifting dynamics and asymmetrical power relations that are hidden within these interactions, not just from recording contact with colonial groups but also through the interpretation of it through Kunwinjku eyes. Maralngurra’s artworks and pieces, which are filled with ancestral knowledge, ceremonial motifs, and purposeful historic twists, emphasize Indigenous action in framing these narratives. His depictions move beyond passive representation and mere beauty, but become a medium through which culture, resistance, and self-identity can be shared.
Scholars have explained how contact rock art, including Maralngurra’s paintings, challenge the traditional colonial idea of “first encounters” by incorporating these moments into a larger scale of cultural exchange. As one of the few artists who are known for their direct link with contemporary contact art practices in Arnhem Land, Maralngurra’s work plays an important role in being the bridge between ancient art traditions and modern historical records. His contribution reaches the globe, as it helped Australian contact art position itself next to similar traditions in Africa and the Americas. It also reshaped the archaeological and anthropological approaches to Indigenous history. Through the unique Aboriginal way of visual storytelling, Maralngurra confirms the depth and continuity of Aboriginal culture and traditions, while going against the colonial perspectives that once sought to define it.
Gabriel Maralngurra explained that Aboriginal people used message sticks to send messages about ceremonies and trade. Message sticks are a type of carved wood. These sticks were a traditional way of sharing information, even before Europeans arrived. Maralngurra believed this was already a form of writing. He says his relative, Narlim, treated the rock wall like a blackboard. Narlim painted animals, hand stencils, and English words like “pig”, “cat”, and “Darwin” to help teach others. Narlim created a new way of teaching by combining Aboriginal knowledge with Western literacy by mixing traditional images with English writing.
This innovative mimicking of rock art has been referred to as "rock art style" and is intended to combine the ancient aspects of rock art with new techniques, such as printing on paper and the use of Reckitt blue. This innovation steamed both from Maralngurra's desire to innovate and keep the cultural stories that had been handed down to him by the Old People.
Gabriel Maralngurra used Reckitt’s Blue pigment in his own paintings and said it was “smooth and nice to paint with”. He also explained that blue, unlike red and yellow, which were typically linked to moiety society, did not have any cultural rules. This allowed artists to use Reckitt Blue freely after missionaries brought it to their community.
He attributed most of his painting education to his elder, Thompson Yulidjirri, who has always played an important role in the teaching of younger generations. Another influential mentor was his father-in-law, the late Mok artist Baradayl ‘Lofty’ Nadjamerrek. He picked up on many of his painting techniques such as the x-ray and rarrk (cross-hatching) technique from them, and they taught Maralngurra how to combine traditional and non-traditional techniques to empower their communities.