Page 5 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - Feb 23, 2022

Exhibition To Showcase The Works Of Many Local Artists
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panel discussions, walking tours and keiki activities also planned for the event, Chiu anticipates that the show’s expected tens of thousands of art fans — ranging from the ca- sual to the hardcore — will discover all that’s inspiring and astounding about HT22.
concerns for justice,” says Broder- ick. Honolulu Museum of Art, he adds, will be the site to honor their work through “a selection of power- ful moments” taken from their book.
“Even those who are frequent museum goers will find something surprising about the exhibition,” she
The film Midnight Smoothie from the collective TOQA will be shown at Foster Botanical Garden. PHOTO COURTESY
HAWAI‘I CONTEMPORARY
“Trask and Greevy’s friendship and working relationship endure as a testament to the importance of mo- bilizing in solidarity to protect peo- ple and place, while acknowledging cultural differences,” he says.
Spromises.
tanding at the forefront of this year’s collection of art- ists is Ai Weiwei, an icono-
Chiu says. Aside from being highly critical of the Chinese government’s stance on human rights issues, Wei- wei has also been one of the most vocal commentators on deforesta- tion and pollution. As a result, the dissident artist has produced his share of documentaries that mirror his political convictions — most notably, Coronation (2020), Human Flow (2017) and Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012).
Formed by storytellers and doc- umentarians Joan Lander and Puhi- pau (Abraham Ahmad), Nā Maka O Ka ‘Āina “emerged from the social and environmental justice movements that spread across the Hawaiian archipelago during the 1970s and persist to this day,” ex- plains Broderick.
clast whose poignant sculptures, installation pieces and photogra- phy have been the source of inspi- ration to many over the years. The Beijing-born artist’s willingness to contribute to the show — first, by designing limited-edition face masks that honor the islands’ nat- ural environment and whose sales benefit event organizer Hawai‘i Contemporary (email aloha@ha- waiicontemporary.org to order); and second, by presenting a new itera- tion of his sculpture, Tree, which re- flects an urgent call to action against environmental disruption — was naturally welcomed by Chiu and her associate curators, who include Dr. Miwako Tezuka.
As Chiu notes, “We wanted to in- clude his work not only because of his standing within the art world, but also because he’s become more and more engaged with environmental issues. He was in Brazil and wit- nessed the degradation of the Am- azon, and that sparked a number of his works that were based on trees.”
He adds that the duo’s many films — which include A Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (1983), Waimānalo Eviction (1985), Ka- ho‘olawe Aloha ‘Āina (1992) and Mauna Kea–Temple Under Siege (2005) — will be presented at Hawai‘i State Art Museum and feature previ- ously unreleased archival footage.
Weiwei’s artwork, which will be staged on the upper terrace of Foster Botanical Garden, marks his first-ever showing in the islands.
Other participating artists whose works will be featured include Ha- wai‘i’s own Jamaica Osorio, Gaye Chan, the late Haunani-Kay Trask, Ed Greevy and the video production team Nā Maka O Ka ‘Āina. Austra- lia’s Richard Bell and the Philip- pines’ Leeroy New are just two of the international artists on HT22’s schedule.
“Together, Lander and Puhipau (have) documented and perpetuated Hawaiian culture, history, language, art, music, dance, environment, and the politics of independence and self-determination in Hawai‘i, Moananui and elsewhere,” notes Broderick, an independent cura- tor and educator from Kailua who serves as director of Koa Gallery at Kapi‘olani Community College.
“He’s grafted pieces of wood together to create a series of three trees — two of them are wooden, and the other is made from iron,” explains Chiu, an internationally renowned curator and native of Australia who currently serves as director of Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. “Those three trees have a dialogue with the other trees at the botanical garden, so they speak to one another as a group.”
A well-regarded poet, Osorio is expected to create a new poem for the exhibition, according to Tezuka, while Chan “will be doing works across the city that will be a surprise.”
As for Bell, he’ll be presenting “Embassy,” which Tezuka describes as “a nod to the 1970s Aboriginal movement and fight for land rights in Australia.” Meanwhile, the Ma- nila-based New is expected to un- veil one installation — made out of plastic bottles and surfboards — that is site-specific to Foster Botan- ical Garden.
artwork,” says Tezuka, an author and trained art historian who was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, Ja- pan, and currently works as associ- ate director for Reversible Destiny Foundation, a progressive artist-ar- chitects-poets group in New York.
It also is a fitting accomplishment for an equally talented curatorial team that has labored many days and nights to ensure that this event comes to fruition.
While Weiwei’s artistic achieve- ments are recognized around the globe, it was also his roles as activist and documentarian that made him
Trask, a longtime activist and sovereignty leader who passed away last summer, and Greevy, a photog- rapher, published the book Kū‘ē: Thirty Years of Land Struggles in Hawai‘i in 2004 over “their shared
“We wanted to bring in artists who we could bring in works that are not just illustrative of certain narratives, but who are also able to weave in historical and contextual stories into their materialization of
Beyond the impressive collection of artistic talent, HT22 represents a major triumph for art fans who’ ve been waiting for something to cel- ebrate since the pandemic began.
As Chiu says, “It’s no small feat that this is happening in the age of COVID. There have been many interruptions and starts and stops along the way, but we have perse- vered and we’ re so excited about finally being able to present this
GE 5a necessary part of the exhibition,
FEBRUARY 23, 2022
HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK 5