During Hawai‘i Triennial 2025: ALOHA NŌ (March-June 2025), the students of UHM ART 485 (Contemporary Art in Hawai‘i) and I dedicated ourselves to deepening our understandings of the potential of art to facilitate healing around social justice issues. The episodes of Pewa Radio are inspired by the theme of this year’s exhibition, ALOHA NŌ, meaning to love deeply, and the mau pewa, an iconic symbol used as the kahako over the o in ALOHA NŌ’s visual identity. The pewa is a fishtail shaped patch used to repair and strengthen wooden objects. In the context of ALOHA NŌ, it reminds us that one of the most important functions for art is to heal wounds of the land, water, culture, heart, and mind. Healing is an ongoing process that makes us stronger, not a Band-Aid. As Hawai'i Contemporary puts it, "To create a pewa is to truth tell. To create a pewa is to seek connection in vulnerable histories and difficult jagged places. To create a pewa is to reinforce the fabric of community." Taking the mau pewa to heart, the students centered each of their audio episodes on an individual artwork presented in HT25, asking how it addresses the fissures, cracks, or rifts in the social fabric.
 
Pewa Radio amplifies both artist and audience voices. Some of the episodes feature student conversations with select HT25 artists. Others simply feature the artist talking about their work in relation to healing. Others feature short conversations amongst a few students about a single art work. And still others are short solo meditations.  Above all, Pewa Radio acts as an experiential archive for the artwork of HT25.

The episodes are listed below and short excerpts are also featured on Hawai‘i Contemporary’s Bloomberg Connects digital guide. LINK COMING SOON.
 
Mahalos to the artists for their time and generosity to this project; some extra special mahalos go to artist and conservationist Melissa Chimera, who encouraged and inspired me through her own podcast Land and People; Political Science Ph.D .student Landon Tom, who showed me a few basics in sound design (though I’m still learning); and artist Kahi Ching for allowing me use his beautiful music, “Turtle Bay,” as the Pewa Radio sound track. I also want to mahalo the team at Hawai‘i Contemporary, especially Kris Remington, for supporting this project and featuring it on Hawai'i Contemporary's website. And finally, mahalo to Bloomberg Connects for their technical support.
more episodes coming soon!
EXTRA!  Here is an episode from LAND and PEOPLE featuring a conversation that Melissa Chimera and I held as a public program for HT25.
Melissa Chimera, co-host of the Land and People podcast is a Hawai‘i Triennial 2025 visual artist whose work consists of research-based investigations into species extinction, globalization and human migration. In this interview, Melissa talks with Dr. Jaimey Faris,  on how environmental justice can be expressed through “undisciplining” or pursuing the links between art, science and ethics of deep care.