Rameer Tawasil was five years old when war broke out between government troops and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Sulu in 1974, forcing his family to flee as the city of Jolo burned. Relocating to Zamboanga City, he would go on to create a style of painting known as ukkilism, which draws on his Tausug cultural heritage. The ukkil or arabesque motif can be seen across the art forms of many Moro peoples; it consists of a combination of scroll and plant-like design such as leaves, vines and ferns, as well as bird-like and curvilinear forms representing the naga (serpent or dragon) or suggesting ripples and waves.

The Tausug people are skilled at making and flying many kinds of traditional Taguri (kites). Included in the Triennial, Tawasil’s bold, colourful Taguri were made at the end of his life. Inspired by the multiple designs of the prized Royal Kites of Sulu, widely used during the era of the Sulu Sultanate, they are formed of carved ukkil. These Taguri have a spiritual import, conveying the artist’s joy in his Tausug culture and heritage, and a consciousness of his own impending mortality.

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