ABDULMARI ASIA IMAO

BORN: JANUARY 14, 1936

DIED: DECEMBER 16, 2014 (78 YEARS
OLD)

EDUCATION:

● UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

(U.P)
● UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

KNOWS FOR:

● SCULPTURE
● PAINTING
● Abdulmari Imao was married to Grace de Leon, an
art dealer from Santo Tomas, Pampanga. They had
four male children.

● His family came from a generation of tokang or

boat makers
● At the age of nine, Imao began to show interests for
the arts.
● Imao etched trophies with the shape of a swimmer
atop a pedestal for the swimmers in Sulu.
● Imao finished high school in 1956. During the same
year, the Philippine Navy held a floating exhibit
named LST
● Imao presented Bernardo some of his works who
later took Imao to Manila.
● Abdulmari Imao is known for using the okir,
sarimanok and the naga as motifs in his artworks
and is credited for popularizing the motifs to the
Filipino national consciousness
● Imao draws inspiration from Tausūg and Maranao
art. Imao's Islamic faith is also a source of
inspiration in his art
● In 1960, Abdulmari Imao enter the University of
Kansas in the United States as a Smith Mundt and
Fulbright Scholar
● Imao earned his Masters of Fine Arts in Sculpture,
major in Metal Brass Casting. From 1962–1963 at
the Rhode Island School of Design
● Jose Maria Ansaldo, aide to the President, helped Imao enter college at the University of the
Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City
● His mentors at the University were Guillermo Tolentino and Napoleon Abueva, who preceded him
as National Artists. Imao graduated from the university with the degree Bachelor of Fine Arts in
Sculpture.

Guillermo Tolentino and Napoleon Abueva

 WORKS
OF
ABDULMARI ASIA IMAO
SARIMANOK NG BAYAN NA MAPAYAPA (2006)
A rare 1975 Imao landscape piece
● Industry Brass Mural, Philippine National Bank, San Fernando, La Union

● Mural Relief on Filmmaking, Manila City Hall

● Industrial Mural, Central Bank of the Philippines, San Fernando, La Union

● Sulu Warriors (statues of Panglima Unaid and Captain Abdurahim Imao), 6

ft., Sulu Provincial Capitol