Moro art exhibit opens in Ayala

An interactive Moro art exhibit with materials sourced from Marawi City and showcasing art work and music representing indigenous Mindanao culture opened at the Ayala Center gallery last Friday evening.

The “Manara Interactive Moro Art” exhibit will run until Oct. 11 after being held in Makati City and Davao City and is the work of artists Toym Imao and Lilianna Manahan.

Imao, who was raised a Muslim, said he had no problems working with Manahan in crafting the minarets and lighthouses which are an important architectural feature of mosques and lanterns.

Manahan said likewise, explaining that she kept an open mind while working with him.

“The whole point of the thing is to collaborate. I just kept an open mind. That allowed us to work well together,” she said

Imao said they worked on the exhibit by focusing “on commonalities rather than differences.”

He said the exhibit was a product of six months of research and art design culminating in one interactive art installation.

“We didn’t want it to get rooted to the traditional because we have to respect 1,001 sensibilities, because it’s different from each region… The underlying principle when we created it everything was unity and diversity,” Imao said.

Imao said weeks before the conflict broke out in Marawi City last May 23, they visited the city and bought the materials for the art exhibit there.

“It’s heart breaking because this exhibit became (a memorial of swords). It’s sad because it was the first and last time we saw the city in one piece,” Imao said.