ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 6 June)—Zamboanga-based Tausug artist Rameer Tawasil, in his conversation with MindaNews days before his death, spoke of art as his legacy to Philippine art and to Filipinos in general.
“Peace will always be a subject in my works. The historical and cultural values of the Tausug people have always been highlighted in my works of art through the years,” said Tawasil last week.
Tawasil in recent years had been suffering from myelodysplastic syndrome or MDS, a medical condition described by his doctor as a rare blood cancer. He expired at 3:03 in the morning of Tuesday, said his widow Rohana in a phone interview.
Per Islamic tradition, Tawasil’s remains were brought by his family for cleansing and burial in the afternoon of the same day.
Born in Karungdong, Kalingalan Caluang (formerly part of Luuk) in Sulu, then five-year-old Tawasil and his family left the province in February 7, 1974, when Joloanos experienced the Jolo Siege during the Moro National Liberation Front’s attack of the Philippine Constabulary camp adjacent to the Notre Dame of Jolo College campus.
“All I could see were burning buildings and houses, as you hear bombs and successive gunfire. We were running, uncaring of the clothes we brought,” Tawasil recalled of his childhood experience of the Jolo Siege when interviewed four months ago by this writer.
The memories, however, triggered the artist in him to transform his traumatic experience into something positive: he drew an oil painting cum mini-mural that he titled “The Burning of Jolo.” Because of the historical significance, Tawasil refused to sell this work to interested art collectors.
Tawasil, an alumnus of Western Mindanao State University’s College of Architecture, taught teens and children during summers to appreciate visual arts and likewise encouraged them to explore preferred themes.
He used peace as theme. “Kasajahitraan is an uncommon word that meant peace,” he told this writer.
In June of 2018, the then Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process organized a 10-day solidarity activity titled “Duyog Ramadan Alang sa Kalinaw” in Marawi to help rebuild the social fabric and foster unity among the Maranao people, months after ISIS-inspired terrorists and the military levelled most of the city in the longest war ever in the Philippines since World War II. This event had been meaningful to Tawasil, as he heard and felt the trauma experienced by the Maranao youth who joined the workshops.
Tawasil had traveled to China and Europe as he was invited by art groups that liked his works, mostly involving ukkil (or okir), a Tausug design that he sometimes tried to project in his works.
A multi-awarded artist, Tawasil had been part of various art exhibits locally, nationally, and internationally. (Frencie L. Carreon / MindaNews)
