Exhibit Signage and Artwork Labels
The adventurous tale of Hiʻiakaikapoliopele is timeless. It embodies
relationships of love, power and duty, connecting Hawaiian customs
of the past to cultural values of today. Every time the story is told it
will influence the identity of generations now and to come.
Kau ka moʻolelo punihei no Hiʻiakaikapoliopele i kona wā iho nō.
Hoʻokino ihola ia i nā pilina o ke aloha ka mana a me ke kuleana,
e hoʻopili ana i nā loina o ka wā i hala me ka nohona o kēia lā.
I kēla me kēia manawa e haʻi ʻia ai ka moʻolelo,
hoʻololi aʻela ia i keʻano iho o nā hanauna, i kēia wā a i kēia
mua aku.
(From exhibit wall)
Artists
1. Hiʻiaka's Skirt Becomes A Surfboard for Lohiau
recycled green plastic, reclaimed wood, 2009
Artwork Label: Hiʻiaka arrived on Kaua'i only to discover that Lohiʻau was dead. Using prayer and lomilomi, she returned him to life. That evening she sent her attendant to gather grass, sedge and seaweed to make her a new skirt. The next morning, while still dark, she awakened him to go surfing, but he reminded her that they had no surfboards. Hiʻiaka beckoned the waves to rise. A great gust of wind suddenly struck and an enormous swell arose, billowed up, and towered steeply. Hiʻiaka's skirt became a surfboard for Lohiʻau. Lohiʻau surfed the wave, shifting his stance, coasting forward over the broad part of the break and moving back along the narrows, gliding back and forth.
"Mark Chai’s garage workshop is a hop away from Kailua Beach. The salt-scented air and the sound of the surf permeate the place, which is filled with a jumble of thick plastic sheeting, reinforced corrugated cardboard, PVC pipe and X-ray film bags. Chai’s co-workers at The Queen’s Medical Center save cast-off materials for him, from heavy plastic containers that he heats and reshapes into tables, to PVC boards that he drills and cuts with a jigsaw into interlocking curled forms to create ceiling lights.
From the inorganic materials, Chai creates organic shapes inspired by the ocean. “I like curves and waves,” he says, “and I’ve always been fascinated by being in the water. The curves resurfaced in my work after I moved back to Kailua in 2003.”" (From Honolulu Magazine. Kailua: Portrait of a Place. April 2010)
2. Wahine ʻōmaʻo
Marques Marzan
naʻau puaʻa (pig gut), 2009
Label:
Chant Number 345
Kuʻu aikāne
Kuʻu aikāne hoʻi
Kuʻu aikāne mai ka lā o lalo ē
A pō Kaʻena i ka ʻehu kai
Kīpū ihola i ka lau o ka ʻilima
ʻEʻehu i ka lā ka ʻulu o Poloa
E hoʻokoʻo mai ana ka ʻoe iaʻu, i ke hoa o ke anu
Ko hoa i ke koʻekoʻe a ka wai me ke kai
Auē hoʻi ē!
Kuʻu aikāne
Hoʻi mai ana kāua
Eia au ʻo Wahineʻōmaʻo
Ō kū, ō ka, hoʻi mai ana hoʻi
My beloved aikāne
My most intimate companion, indeed
My aikāne from the setting sun in the west
Obscuring Kaʻena in the sea spray
Settling amid the leaves of the ʻilima
Reddened in the sun are the breadfruit of Poloa
It is you who supports me, a friend in the cold
Enduring with you the chill of the waters and the seas
Oh, indeed!
My dear aikāne
Let us come back together
Here am I, Wahineʻōmaʻo
Get up, give it a go, let us return
Hiʻiaka's most trusted ally, Wahineʻōmaʻo, is the only one able to assuage
Hiʻiaka's wrath, once incurred. She embodies her calm, her compassion, her love.
These cherished traits is what stays with her, always at her side, becoming the
foundation from which her development blossoms.
Info: With some of the artwork the materials themselves are rigged with underlying
messages. The artist placard of Marques Hanalei Marzan, for example, lists the
materials quite simply as"Naʻau puaʻa." Translation: pig guts. The washed-out
pig intestines are filled with air similar to a balloon, dried in the sun, then woven.
The result is a series of ethereal paʻu skirts titled "Paʻuopalaʻa." Displayed
vertically, the three paʻu both literally and symbolically represent one's naʻau
means "guts," but Hawaiians often refer to the naʻau as a person's source of
wisdom. Marzan writes in his artist statement, "Hiʻiaka's strength is literally
manifested in her paʻu, her skirt. This magical shield of her mana alludes
to the greatness that resides within, that which we can barely comprehend."
3. He ʻIwa Ke Aloha E Hoʻomao Aʻe Nei
Abigail Romanchak
etching ink, paper, carborundum, 2009
Label: As Hiʻiaka travels from Hawaiʻi Island to Kauaʻi she encounters many desirable men.
After Hiʻiaka reaches Kailua, Oʻahu she is fed plentiful amounts of lūʻau by Kaʻanahau,
the most handsome man of Kailua. As she ate the luʻau, Hiʻiaka was noticing the man's
good looks, and he, at the same time, was recognizing that this lūʻau - eating woman was
a stunning beauty. After dual desires were fulfilled between Hiʻiaka and Kaʻanahau, Hiʻiaka
continues her journey to the island of Kauaʻi. Before departing from Oʻahu Hiʻiaka expresses
deepest feelings of love by offering this chant to Kaʻanahau.
KAU KANALIMA KUMĀMAONO O KA MOʻOLELO O HIʻIAKA
Chant 56
4. Pūhenehene
Pualani Lincoln Maielua
kapa from wild wauke of Kalopa, natural dyes, 2009
5. Pā
Carl Franklin Kaʻailāʻau Pao
acrylic and pencil, 2009
A sound; to sound; beat, rhythm, as of a dance; stroke, as of an instrument; thump of a gourd
down on a pad, with one quick slap of the fingers as the gourd is raised; signal to begin
a dance or drumming.
