After the Mindanao Bloggers Summit, we had a city tour sponsored by the Zamboanga Ecozone. We headed west coast to the freeport. Along the way we stopped by the Yakan Village to see the weavers and buy some their woven delights. I bought a nice punk-looking cloth in black with red and white. I was convinced to buy it coz it's one of a kind and it looks modern. Then, we when we reached the Ecozone, the rain fell hard. We waited in one of their amenities. When the rain started cease, we headed to a newly constructed sort of resort with 2-3 ft pool for kids and cottages. Behind it is a huge swamp with beautiful boat houses in the opposite coasts. We managed to hack the houses and see what it looks inside. The house looks beautiful in the inside with a small jacuzzi with a zen feel on it. There are two red leather beds where you can sleep comfortably. There is also another bed in the second floor which you have to use a narrow staircase to go up there. The staircase has a cabinet in the side. The room is air conditioned with a bathroom and a small kitchen area. There's a glass wall where you can have a nice view of the lobby outside. I can only imagine how it feels waking up early morning having a cup of hot choco in the lobby. :D There are also ziplines that you can use that crosses the swamp. It must really be fun to ride a zipline looking at your reflection below. Talking about fun, there is also a separate building for indoor re creation. It is called GameZone which has a lounge where you can sing karaoke, a cafeteria, three billiard pool and my favorite, the bowling area. The bowling area is computerized with cool monitors that does the scoring and the balls are big unlike the ones they have in Camins. You can rent shoes and buy socks if you forgot to bring a pair. They have a promo where you can use all the amenities for only P350. I hope that the Ecozone will be developed faster so it will be in good use. We had lunch sponsored by Ecozone and also had fun playing bowling. After Ecozone we went to Pasonanca Park and Barter so the bloggers can buy pasalubong. Here are more photos of the city tour. Credits to Maam Yolynne and Ate Grace for the photos.

I want to share my new experimental works that i created in flash during a seminar that we conducted last May12-15. With the use of the pen tool and pencil tools, i doodle different objects and scenes and applied the ukkil effect in the artwork. Ukkil is a technique used in Mindanao, specifically in the Sulu Peninsula. It is a decorative design that is used in carving, basketry, pottery, and weaving with patterns similar to the western style of Arabesque and Art Nouveau.

According to my Humanities teacher, during the Byzantine era, the Iconoclasts influenced the art of the Arabic countries spreading across Asia. Before, it was a sin for Muslims to recreate or paint/sculpt the creations of God such as human or animals. That's why they used geometric patterns, ornamental designs and icons. We can see this in the art of the Tausug, Maranao and Yakans here in Mindanao, which applies shapes and patterns similar to the art during the Byzantine era. Ukkil usually have motifs shaped like waves, ropes, calligraphy, decor and colors.

But today, that belief seems to be gone already. The yakans already has new designs that are influenced by their surroundings like the kenna-kenna, patterned after a fish; dawen-dawen (leaf of a vine) ; pene mata-mata, (eye) and the bunga-sawa (python). In Ukkil, they have motifs of creatures like the sarimanok, horse, insects, fishes, dragons, flowers and even humans.

I personally know one of Philippines best painter who uses the style of ukkil in his paintings and drawings. He is Mr Rameer Tawasil. Mr Tawasil was my teacher in oil painting one summer and he is also my student in photoshop that year. His art is very vivid and cultural. He mastered his ukkil style in painting and now he is known nationally for his style. Here are some essential links that you might want to visit:

Ukkil, Visual Arts of the Sulu Archipelago
Paintings of Rameer Tawasil
my Vector Ukkil Doodles