Misrifa and Nursima Juhaili
Misrifa A Juhaili / Tausug people / The Philippines b.2000 / Nursima A Juhaili / Tausug people / The Philippines b.1982 / Habul Tyahian (fan motif) 2024 / Embroidery on satin / Purchased 2024 with funds from the Bequest of Noela Clare Deutscher, in memory of her parents, A Evans Deutscher and Clare Deutscher, through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Courtesy and © The artists / Photograph: Anne Michelle Villareal
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Artist Nursima Juhaili, Parang, Sulu, The Philippines / Photograph: Marge Obligacion / Image courtesy: The Asia Foundation and Accelerate
Misrifa A Juhaili
Tausug people
Born 2000, The Philippines
Nursima A Juhaili
Tausug people
Born 1982, The Philippines
Live and work in Bagsak, Parang, Sulu Province, The Philippines
Misrifa and Nursima Juhaili are Tausug artists based in Sulu, a province within the Sulu Archipelago, which forms part of the greater Mindanao region. Collaborating as artists, they create Habul Tyahian, a distinctive Tausug textile art form. Their work features intricate hand-embroidered motifs on vibrant satin backgrounds, forming continuous, linear patterns of three or five lines. These designs are crafted using the ukkil, a distinctive visual language of flowing, organic forms with a well-defined grammar and vocabulary of its own. The motifs draw from Tausug culture, depicting elements such as the kayapo (lotus flower), nayaga (dragons or serpents), sulam (leaves), and bagun-bagun (vines). While deeply rooted in Sulu’s artistic traditions, the ukkil also reflects Islamic principles of symmetry, symbolising the interconnectedness and continuity of the universe. Misrifa and Nursima are members of the Bagsak Youth Cooperative in Parang, Sulu.
Return to Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago: Roots and Currents