Biography:
Obed Namirrkki is a Kuninjku artist from West Arnhem Land and a member of the renowned Kardbam clan. He is the son of acclaimed artist Ivan Namirrkki and grandson of the celebrated painter and cultural leader Peter Marralwanga, inheriting a rich artistic and cultural legacy connected to the country of Marrkolidjban and Mankorlod.
Obed learnt to paint under the guidance of his father and has developed a distinctive practice spanning bark painting, lorrkon (hollow log burial poles), and sculpture. While deeply grounded in the rarrk traditions of his family, he has quickly established himself as an artist of national significance in his own right.
Obed is particularly known for his depictions of Kunkurra (the spiralling wind), a powerful ancestral and climatic phenomenon associated with Mankorlod, a place of significance within the Kardbam clan estate. Characterised by intricate geometric arrangements of fine rarrk, his bark paintings and lorrkon evoke the movement and energy of these spiralling winds while referencing the sacred sites, ceremonial knowledge and ancestral narratives embedded within the landscape. Through repeated explorations of this subject, Obed continues a tradition of cultural transmission that connects contemporary art practice to country, ceremony and kinship.
Alongside Kunkurra, Obed paints ancestral beings including Lumaluma, a powerful figure associated with Mardayin ceremony, and creates finely carved mimih spirit sculptures that draw on the rich spiritual traditions of western Arnhem Land.
In recent years Obed has emerged as one of the leading artists of a new generation of Kuninjku practitioners. In 2023 he was runner-up in the National Emerging Art Prize for his bark painting Wak Wak. In 2024 he received national recognition, winning the prestigious Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Memorial Award for his lorrkon sculpture at the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA). In 2025 he was again recognised as a finalist in the NATSIAAs, this time for his bark painting practice.
Obed's work demonstrates both a deep commitment to the cultural traditions inherited from his father and grandfather and a confident contemporary vision that continues to expand the enduring artistic legacy of the Kardbam clan.
