{"id":210881,"date":"2025-02-14T16:13:32","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T02:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=210881"},"modified":"2025-02-19T10:06:04","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T20:06:04","slug":"historic-native-hawaiian-art-honolulu-hale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/14\/historic-native-hawaiian-art-honolulu-hale\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic Native Hawaiian art unveiled at Honolulu Hale"},"content":{"rendered":"
Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]\n

\"Group<\/p>\n

At the heart of Honolulu Hale, a towering symbol of resilience and healing now stands—a massive 22-foot-wide, 8-foot-tall wooden ʻumeke created by Native Hawaiian artist Meleanna Aluli Meyer.<\/p>\n[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/T-euCe9hXsQ” el_aspect=”34″ align=”right” el_id=”wrap-video-right”][vc_column_text]\n

Unveiled on February 14, this historic art piece made in collaboration with Honolulu Community College carpentry<\/a> students and University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at Mānoa art<\/a> and theatre<\/a> faculty and students, is unlike anything seen before.<\/p>\n

In Hawaiʻi,<\/span> ʻumeke (calabashes or bowls) typically range from 4 to 12 inches in diameter, and hold everything from water and food to sacred offerings. Meleanna\u2019s piece, ʻUmeke Lāʻau<\/span> (Culture Medicine), expands this tradition, transforming the ʻumeke into a monument to healing and reflection.<\/p>\n

The project is part of Hawaiʻi<\/span> Triennial 2025: Aloha Nō<\/a> (HT25<\/abbr>), the state\u2019s largest international contemporary art event. Meleanna, an award-winning artist and educator, envisioned it as a way to spark deeper conversations about societal change, repair and healing.<\/p>\n

“Many systems are profoundly broken, many aspects of society are in need of critical reimagining and repair,” Meleanna said. “Artists are trying mightily to bring healing through the arts.”<\/p>\n

Never forgotten<\/h2>\n
\"Petition
The Kūʻē<\/span> Petitions of 1897<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Constructed from African mahogany veneer and other woods, the structure carries a deeper significance beyond its physical form. Inside, built-in speakers will play thousands of names of Native Hawaiians and Hawaiʻi<\/span> Citizens who signed the Kūʻē<\/span> Petitions of 1897, opposing Hawaiʻi\u2019s<\/span> annexation by the United States. Among them was Meleanna\u2019s grandfather, Noa Webster Aluli, who signed as a 17-year-old, making the piece a deeply personal tribute to those who fought to protect their one hānau (homeland).<\/p>\n

The names were recorded by 东精影业<\/abbr> Mānoa Hawaiian Theatre<\/a> program faculty and students, ensuring that those voices are heard again.<\/p>\n

“Sitting with more than 38,000 inoa kupuna (ancestral names) who signed the petition in 1897 is profound,” said Tammy Hailiʻōpua<\/span> Baker, professor and founder of the Hawaiian theatre program. “The recording process gathered a handful of kanaka with genealogical connections to districts and islands that they voiced. Each of us was moved when we recognized and read family names into the microphone.”<\/p>\n

Huli ka lima i lalo, Turn the hands down<\/h2>\n
\"People
Students with Meleanna<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The project was a collaborative effort, designed and assembled by Meleanna while serving as an artist-in-residence at 东精影业<\/abbr> Mānoa. Working alongside 东精影业<\/abbr> Mānoa art students and faculty, including Kainoa Gruspe and Amber Khan, Meleanna brought the vision to life. The project also involved Honolulu CC<\/abbr> assistant professor Dean Crowell and his carpentry students, who skillfully crafted the infrastructure of the towering ʻumeke sections.<\/p>\n

Kaʻili<\/span> Chun, a Native Hawaiian artist and newly appointed assistant art professor at 东精影业<\/abbr> Mānoa, was among those who helped bring the piece to life.<\/p>\n

“This ʻumeke is feeding us in a different way,” Chun said. “It\u2019s taking us beyond nourishment and sustaining us physically—it\u2019s feeding us spiritually, culturally, intellectually.”<\/p>\n

An interactive experience<\/h2>\n

\"PeopleUnlike most art pieces, the ʻUmeke Lāʻau<\/span> is meant to be entered and can hold up to 30 people at a time. Visitors are asked to remove their shoes before stepping inside. Once inside, Meleanna invites them to share a single word that captures their experience.<\/p>\n

Words including “faith,” “mana” (divine power), “pilina” (connection, relationship) and “transformation” have echoed within its walls.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s very rare to have an immersive experience with an art piece,” said Noelle Kahanu, curator of HT25 and associate specialist in the American studies<\/a> department at 东精影业<\/abbr> Mānoa. “Not only are you blown away by looking at it from the outside, but you actually get to enter into it. It just makes you want to cry.”<\/p>\n

The ʻumeke on display at City Hall is a powerful symbol of the city\u2019s ongoing commitment to supporting local and Indigenous artists, made possible through a collaboration between the Honolulu Mayor\u2019s Office of Culture and the Arts (MOCA) and the Hawaiʻi<\/span> Triennial.<\/p>\n

“We are proud to be hosting Hawaiʻi<\/span> Triennial 2025 and Meleanna Aluli Meyer\u2019s powerful piece here in Honolulu Hale,” said Kaʻili<\/span> Trask O\u2019Connell, executive director at MOCA. “It\u2019s not often that we have the ability to engage with an artist\u2019s work in such a physical and spiritual way, as Meleanna has empowered us to do.”<\/p>\n

Limited time exhibit<\/h2>\n

The ʻUmeke Lāʻau<\/span> is open to the public and will be on display from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. at Honolulu Hale through May 4 before traveling to Kapolei Hale and other locations.<\/p>\n

This groundbreaking piece was funded by Hawaiʻi<\/span> Triennial 2025 and many private donors who believe in Meleanna\u2019s life work. It is also made possible through the 东精影业<\/abbr> Foundation Admiral Residency in Contemporary Pacific Art<\/a>, 东精影业<\/abbr> Mānoa Department of Art and Art History<\/a>, Debra Drexler (东精影业<\/abbr> art galleries<\/a>) and Brad Taylor (chair, art department).<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_masonry_media_grid element_width=”3″ css=”” grid_id=”vc_gid:1739995477810-ea6043be-3a79-6″ include=”210895,210894,210893,210889,210892,210891,210890,210887,210886″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carpentry, art and theatre faculty and students collaborate with Native Hawaiian artist Meleanna Aluli Meyer to create a never-before-seen artwork. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,12],"tags":[813,105,346,33,62,1465,130,76,71,9,947,56],"class_list":["post-210881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-video","tag-american-studies","tag-art","tag-carpentry","tag-hawaiian","tag-honolulu-community-college","tag-manoa-native-hawaiian-place-of-learning","tag-theatre","tag-theatre-and-dance","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-uh-manoa","tag-uh-system","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210881"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211042,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210881\/revisions\/211042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}