Ateneo de Zamboanga University President Fr. Guillrey Anthony Andal, SJ (far left) and Zamboanga City Mayor John Dalipe (far right) join the family of the late artist Rameer Tawasil (L-R): Zhanmeero, Zhanvermeer (who recently won 2nd place in the St. Ignatius On-the-Spot Painting Contest), Zhameena, Rohana, Zhareena, and Quazreena, the youngest. MindaNews photo courtesy of the Ateneo Center for Culture and the Arts
ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 4 October) – The works of the late Tausug-Zamboangueño artist Rameer Tawasil are displayed in an art exhibit at the Gallery of the Peninsula and the Archipelago at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University (AdZU) here.
The art exhibit, dubbed “Solamente… Rameer: A Tribute Exhibit to the Master of Ukkil in Canvas,” honors the artist’s life and works.
Ukkil is an art form indigenous to Muslim ethnic groups in Mindanao.
Tawasil left Sulu as a child in 1972 during the Jolo Siege and lived in Zamboanga until his death. In his lifetime, he had mounted several exhibits – either featuring his own or his fellow artists’ works.
Tawasil organized an association of artists, and linked Sulu and Zamboanga’s art with other groups even outside the Philippines.
At the exhibit opening on Tuesday, AdZU President Fr. Guillrey Anthony Andal, SJ, welcomed the guests led by City Mayor John Dalipe, Councilors Rogelio Valesco, Aljihan Edding and Benjamin Guingona IV, Basilan Provincial Board Member Amin Hataman, and artist Sandra Yusah from New York.
In its Facebook page, AdZU described Tawasil “as a virtuoso of the arts, one of Zamboanga City’s brightest gems whose masterworks display the grandeur and richness of the culture of Mindanao.”
Tawasil’s widow, Rohana, received the Plaque of Recognition for her husband from the Ateneo Center for Culture and the Arts (ACCA), which mounted the exhibit in collaboration with the City Tourism Office.
Tawasil was a consummate visual artist who put Sulu’s cultural and historical traditions in his various themes on peace, pangalay (Tausug-Sama dance), the Moro vinta (a canoe with colorful sails), fruits of Sulu, medical instruments, gagandilan, and the various historical landmarks of Zamboanga.
“The Muslims in the Philippines, the Tausugs and Zamboanga City in particular, have lost a renowned artist. But my children ages 10 to 22 have lost a father. We have lost a father, a good provider who treated his children fairly and equally,” Rohana said after receiving the plaque.
“Fortunately, all six of them, including the twin girls, have the artistic talent of their father. There is not a day that I do not see Rameer. I can see him in my children,” she said, bringing tears from the audience.
The 12-day exhibit runs from October 3 to 12 this year. (Frencie L. Carreon / MindaNews)
