collaboration with ART 302, ART 691 + MAUNA KEA EDUCATION AND AWARENESS
(a Kūkulu exhibition series at UHM ART)
Summer 2024

With Mauna Kea Education and Awareness (mkea.info), my class and I worked on making a collective sculpture and curated Hoʻomana, the 18th installment of theKūkulu Exhibition series, at UHM ART. With Kanaka Maoli activist Pua Case, the incredible leader of Protect Mauna Kea, and artist and activist Meleanna Meyer,  my students developed a collaborative community art project to celebrate the kia’i of Mauna Kea and wahi pana across O’ahu. Students chose a pōhaku (stone) in their ahupua’a to represent their learning about place. They researched, interviewed folks, wrote mo’olelo about what their stones have witnessed and then created a paper geometric replica of their real pōhaku, layered with reflections on ‘āina and solidarity with Mauna Kea. We stacked  them together into an ‘ahu. 

Ua ho’onoho nio ‘ia….ho’oku’u ka hana. When the stones are stacked properly, the work is done.

The 'ahu stood next to a collectively made Hawaiian flag made by Meleanna Meyer, Lynette Cruz and many other hands during the 2020 stand on Mauna Kea.  Both the flag and the 'ahu protect the Mauna, which rises as a red triangle behind. Over the course of the exhibition, they also proudly claimed a Hawaiian space in the Art department. Find out more about the community process by watching the slide show below.  Here are a few images as well as the wall text from the exhibition:

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI, MĀNOA, IS THE EIGHTEENTH INSTALLMENT OF KŪKULU, A TRAVELING ART EXHIBITION HONORING THE PILLARS OF MAUNA KEA WHO STAND FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE TALLEST MOUNTAIN IN THE WORLD (FROM THE SEA FLOOR) LOCATED ON THE ISLAND OF HAWAIʻI. EACH EXHIBIT IS COMMITTED TO UPLIFT AND INSPIRE, TO EDUCATE AND BRING AWARENESS AND TO ACKNOWLEDGE, RECOGNIZE AND HONOR THOSE STANDING FOR MAUNA KEA AND FOR ALL SACRED, SPECIAL AND STORIED PLACES IN AND BEYOND HAWAIʻI.
 

SPONSORED BY MAUNA KEA EDUCATION AND AWARENESS, HAWAIʻI PEOPLE’S FUND, AND SEVENTH GENERATION FUND FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S, INC.

KŪKULU IS A PROJECT OF MAUNA KEA EDUCATION AND AWARENESS WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO EDUCATE AND RAISE THE AWARENESS OF COMMUNITIES IN HAWAIʻI AND BEYOND ON THE SPIRITUAL, HISTORICAL, CULTURAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MAUNA KEA AND PROVIDE CULTURAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES TO EVERYONE FROM KEIKI TO KUPUNA, RESIDENTS, VISITORS AND OTHERS CONCERNED ABOUT INDIGENOUS RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES IN ORDER TO CREATE A PLATFORM FOR PROTECTION OF SACRED PLACES AND FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND POSITIVE CHANGE.

THE COMMONS GALLERY INSTALLATION REFLECTS THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTIVATING MANA AND SOLIDARITY THROUGH COLLECTIVE LEARNING AND CREATIVITY ACROSS KANAKA MAOLI AND ALLIED COMMUNITIES. THE FEATURED PROJECTS—A FILM, A QUILTED HAE, AND A PAPER AHU—WERE MADE BY MANY HANDS. IN SONG, IN DANCE, IN STITCH, AND IN STACKING, THEY CELEBRATE KŪ KIAʻI MAUNA (MAUNA KEA PROTECTORS). THE TRIANGLE PATTERN CONNECTS ALL THE PROJECTS.  THIS PATTERN IS INSPIRED BY THE HAND SIGN USED BY KŪ KIAʻI MAUNA AND ADOPTED FROM A TRADITIONAL HULA MOVEMENT OFTEN USED TO DEPICT THE “PIKO,” CENTER, CORE OR FOUNDATION. WHEN ONE PLACES THEIR HANDS IN THE FORM OF A TRIANGLE, THE SUMMIT OF MAUNA KEA IS VISUALISED AT THE CENTER.

MAHALO TO:  NĀ KIAʻI, KA LEI MAILE ALIʻI, LYNETTE CRUZ, MELEANNA MEYER, EMILY KANDAGAWA, PATRICIA-LEI MURRAY, PAM OMIDYWAR, HILARY HACKER, ANNIE KUHN, IMANI ALTEMUS-WILLIAMS, THE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN ART 302, AND ALL COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE COLLECTIVE ART PROJECTS.

MAHALO NUI TO MELEANNA MEYER FOR HER KŌKUA IN FACILITATING THE DEEP CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THESE FEATURED COMMUNITY ART PROJECTS.

THIS GALLERY WAS CURATED BY GRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE ART 691 HOʻOMANA COLLECTIVE (TIFFANY BEAM, ASHLEY COLLINS, BRENTLEY SANDLIN DIANNE SHEN, KAIQING SU) WITH GUIDANCE FROM TEACHER JAIMEY HAMILTON FARIS.