Abstract Maranao Okir Art

I have been so stressed for the past weeks’ academic binge. I lacked some shut eye, which resulted to constant headaches. And now that school’s over, I’m slowly getting back what I had deprived myself of – slumber… and of course, blogging. Teehee. I’m still not supposed to do this, but I really feel the need to take some time off. After the scholastic breakdown I had last week, I imposed myself an unwritten rule that I shouldn’t blog until such time that my thesis is far from over. I honestly feel that I’m nearly done, so let me take a breather just this once.

Enough said.

I got to let out my artistic side again because of our Filipino 21 (Philippine Folklore) subject. We were asked to create something that can popularize our country’s ethnic art as our final project. I chose the Maranao Okir Art, because it’s very popular. This art is known for its exuberance and vitality. It also crosses different forms. The Maranao is one of the thirteen tribes of Muslim in the Philippines. It is the subject of researchers’ interest most of the time, thus making them the most studied tribe in the country. As far as I know, it is the most extravagant Muslim tribe.

Since I have been suffering from cognitive overload lately, I couldn’t think of an original okir art. I apologize, because I just copied what I found in the web. I only used pastel crayons and illustration board. No pun intended. I just didn’t have enough resources and time to exert my utmost effort in crafting my own design. If given another chance, I will definitely do my best to show you my own interpretation of the said art. Spoken like a real beauty queen, eh? Anyhow, below is an abstract okir art made by a student from Mindanao State University (MSU).

The Original from (Al-Nezzar Ali’s blog). Not intended for copyright infringement.

The nasty version. Not intended for plagiarism.

Yours truly. The fake artist holding her ugly work of art. I hope you like it somehow.

LOL for the hoping soul here! Piece based on Pinta Okir Group‘s (MSU Gensan) piece for the

Okil in Abstraction Workshop.