State honors set for country’s first-ever Muslim national artist

MANILA, Philippines–The country’s first Muslim national artist, Dr. Abdulmari Asia Imao, will be accorded full state honors on his funeral as part of the government’s tribute for his contributions to art and culture.

The sculptor, painter, photographer, ceramist, documentary filmmaker, cultural researcher, writer, and articulator of Philippine Muslim art and culture, passed away on Dec. 16, of a suspected heart attack. He was 78.

National artist and sculptor Abdulmari Asia Imao. FACEBOOK PHOTO/Toym Leon Imao/Galerie Joaquin

In a statement, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) said on Thursday that the government had set a necrological tribute for the national artist on Dec. 21, 8 a.m. at Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (main theater), of the CCP.

“State funeral and honors [will] follow at Libingan ng mga Bayani,” the NCCA statement added.

Imao’s family welcomed the state arrangements offered to all national artists.

Last respects

In a statement, the family said it was Imao’s wish to accept a state funeral upon his demise, and to hold a wake to allow family members and friends to pay their last respects and goodbyes.

“We welcome and are grateful for the tribute being planned for Dr. Imao by the NCCA and the CCP,” the family said.

“We will be coordinating with the said agencies for the Muslim burial rituals that [will] be officiated alongside the military honors and burial ceremonies at Libingan ng mga Bayani,” the family’s statement added.

According to Muslim tradition, a deceased’s body should be buried as soon as possible from the time of death.

Imao, whom his family described as “a beloved brother, father, grandfather and a creative soul of the Bangsamoro,” lies in state at the main chapel of Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City, until Dec. 20. Those who wish to pay their last respects are welcome from 3 p.m. to 12 midnight, the family said.

Fondly called “Mari” by his friends and colleagues, Imao led a full and colorful life as an artist.

‘Sarimanok’

He adopted the mythical “sarimanok” of Maranao legends in his paintings and sculptures as a visual metaphor for the depth and richness of his native Mindanao, particularly the Sulu archipelago where he was born.

After getting his degree from the College of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines, where he was mentored by Guillermo Tolentino and Napoleon Abueva, who would later become national artists themselves, Imao received a Schmidt and Fulbright Scholarship for graduate studies at Kansas University in the United States.

He also received two yearlong fellowships at the Rhode Island School of Design and Columbia University in New York, and became the first Asian recipient of a Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) fellowship grant to study in

Europe.

Upon his return to the Philippines, Imao taught Fine Arts at the University of the East.

He also set out on several photojournalistic and scholarly research work about the peoples of Mindanao. He studied and promoted indigenous brass casting techniques as well, and crafted several public art and historical installations around the country.

Awards

Imao’s contribution to Philippine art and culture was duly recognized with several awards, starting with his being named among the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines in 1968, and given the Gawad Patnubay ng Sining by the City of Manila in 1985. He was also awarded the Gawad CCP para sa Sining in 1990 and the Presidential Medal of Merit in 2005.

In 2006, Imao was declared a national artist for visual arts.

Imao’s works and motifs are deeply rooted in his Muslim upbringing, but he also embraced a healthy relationship and respectful dialogue with other faiths. His wife, the late Grace Bondoc de Leon, was a devout Catholic. Their strong interfaith relationship is reflected in his paintings and sculptures, and in the attitude of his children toward art and society.

Scholar, freethinker

“Dr. Imao is a true academic, scholar, a freethinker. He is a Muslim artist, but is also a Filipino creative [spirit] whose style and expression cut across cultural and religious limits,” the family said.

“His faith is reflected in the exuberance of the patterns and colors of his artworks that celebrate life without borders,” his family added.