Abdulmari Imao, National Artist for Visual Arts
June 9 – September 8, 2023
Opening (by invitation)
June 8, 2023, 6pm
12F Gallery of the Design + Arts Campus (D+A Campus)
De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, 950 Ocampo St, Malate, Manila, 1004 Metro Manila, Philippines
Abdulmari Asia Imao was a painter, sculptor, photographer, ceramist, documentary filmmaker, cultural researcher, writer, and champion of Philippine Muslim art and culture. Through his work, the indigenous ukkil, sarimanok and naga designs, commonly used in Mindanao by the indigenous Tausūg and Maranao, were popularized as original Philippine art.
Imao was born on January 14, 1936 in Sulu to a family of boat makers. At a young age, he began to show interest in the arts. He studied until high school at Sulu and then at the University of the Philippines where he was mentored by National Artists Guillermo Tolentino and Napoleon Abueva. Imao graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sculpture and further earned postgraduate degrees at the University of Kansas, Rhode Island School of Design, and Columbia University, USA. In 1963, he received the New York Museum of Modern Art Grant to Europe and Scandinavia, the first Asian to have been given the prize.
Upon his return, Imao taught Fine Arts at the University of the East and did several photo-journalistic and scholarly research work about Mindanao. He promoted indigenous brass casting techniques, using these to create several public art installations around the country. He eventually became a brass-making consultant for the United Nations.
For his contributions to Philippine culture and arts, Abdulmari Asia Imao was recognized with the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) award in 1968, the Gawad Patnubay ng Sining by the City of Manila in 1985, the Gawad CCP para sa Sining in 1990, and the Presidential Medal of Merit in 2005. On June 9, 2006, he was named National Artist of the Philippines for Visual Arts, the first from Mindanao to have been honored. Abdulmari Asia Imao passed away on December 16, 2014.
The Center for Campus Art presents “A Life Without Borders: Abdulmari Imao, National Artist for Visual Arts.” The exhibition opens with a program and cocktails on June 8, 2023, 6pm at the 12F Gallery of the Design + Arts Campus, by invitation, and to the public from June 9 to September 8, 2023. Exhibit hours are from 10am-9pm. Curated by Ar Gerry Torres.
