National Artist Abdulmari Imao dies at 78

MANILA, Philippines - National Artist for Visual Arts Abdulmari Asia Imao passed away at the age of 78 on Tuesday morning.

A native of Sulu, Imao is a sculptor, painter, photographer, ceramist, documentary film maker, cultural researcher, writer and articiuator of Philippine Muslim art and culture.

Born a Tausug, he is the first Moro national artist. He was named a national artist for sculpture in 2006.

Some of his popular works, which are the indigenous ukkil, sarimanok and naga motifs, instilled consciousness of the Filipino nation and other peoples as original Filipino creations, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts said.

His large-scale sculptures and monuments of Muslims and regional heroes from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi helped develop cultural groups build a more just and humane society, NCCA added.

National Artists Guillermo Tolentino and Napoleon Abueva were among his mentors in the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts.

A Smith Mundt and Fulbright Scholar, Imao earned his Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the University of Kansas in the United States.