A New Immersive Mural Exhibition Brings Avenue Artwork to Waikīkī

“In The Southern Solar,” introduced by famend artwork collective POW! WOW!, reframes the cultural historical past of Waikīkī. Photograph courtesy of Eleven17 Inventive and Pow!Wow! Worldwide.

In his 1889 poem “The Island Rose,” creator Robert Louis Stevenson bids farewell to Princess Kaʻiulani as she prepares to go away Oʻahu to check in Scotland. The half-Scottish, half-Native Hawaiian princess—described within the poem as “the island rose”—was the final inheritor to the Hawaiian Kingdom. Stevenson wrote the poem whereas staying at her Waikīkī residence, 4 years earlier than the unlawful overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.

The road “Her islands right here, in Southern solar” impressed the title and idea for a brand new artwork exhibit coming to Waikīkī, curated by Oʻahu muralist and POW! WOW! co-founder and director Kamea Namba Hadar.

“It’s like the nice and cozy gentle that bathes all the pieces in Waikīkī,” Hadar mentioned. “It’s rooted within the spirit of the great thing about Hawaiʻi and the center and the great thing about Waikīkī.”

Regardless of Princess Kaʻiulani’s efforts to hunt justice and protest annexation, Hawaiʻi was annexed by the USA in 1898. She died the next 12 months.

Opening July 21, “Within the Southern Solar” options murals, installations and multisensory paintings honoring the unique lands of Waikīkī—equivalent to Helumoa, Kapua and ʻĀinahau—inviting guests to discover its layered previous in a brand new gentle. Offered by international artwork collective POW! WOW!, the brand new avenue artwork exhibition can be on view for a minimum of one 12 months on the Hyatt Regency Waikīkī Seashore Resort and Spa, situated at 2424 Kalākaua Ave.

“In The Southern Solar” is situated at Hyatt Regency Waikīkī Seashore Resort and Spa on the nook of Kalākaua and Ka‘iulani Ave. Photograph courtesy Eleven17 Inventive and Pow!Wow! Worldwide.

“There’s a haunting magnificence in Waikīkī that many don’t see,” artistic director and designer Keola Naka‘ahiki Rapozo mentioned in a press launch. “Beneath the floor, there’s reminiscence—ʻāina that remembers. This exhibition brings that reminiscence ahead. Each element, each materials, is a love letter to what nonetheless lingers right here: the shadows of rain names, the outlines of misplaced streams, and the heart beat of a cultural legacy that by no means left.”

Based in Hawai‘i in 2011 by Jasper Wong, Kamea Hadar and Jeff Gress, POW! WOW! is now a world collective devoted to reworking areas by public artwork, cultural alternate and neighborhood storytelling. The idea for “Within the Southern Solar” had been on maintain because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hadar mentioned. After curating an analogous immersive artwork expertise at Bishop Museum in 2021, titled “The First Decade: From Hawaiʻi to the World,” the workforce had been searching for a brand new area to create one other POW! WOW! pop-up.

The brand new exhibition is self-funded by Kimo Kennedy (artist supervisor and co-founder of Eleven 17 Inventive), Jason Cutinella (founder and CEO of NMG Community), Kamea Hadar, and Keola Rapozo (co-founder and inventive director of Fitted Hawai‘i). It marks the primary time this close-knit group of mates has formally collaborated on a mission.

“‘Āina Wonderland & Ahupua’a Hale” by illustrator and proprietor of Punky Aloha Studios Shar Tuiasoa. Photograph by Sarah Burchard.

“Everybody brings one thing essential and completely different to the desk,” Hadar mentioned. “Everybody right here is from Hawaiʻi and needs to see the betterment of Hawaiʻi and the genuine publicity of the artists and artwork. And so, you realize, it really works.”

Visitors can discover two flooring of immersive paintings. The higher flooring displays the altering gentle of Waikīkī from daybreak to nightfall. Guests can stroll into and thru murals, experiencing them from a number of angles.

“We purposely made it like an expertise that you would be able to customise. You simply wander, and you end up in several worlds,” Hadar mentioned.

Some murals are interactive, together with Hadar’s piece “Mālamalama,” that means “gentle” or “guiding gentle”—a reinterpretation of an analogous mural beforehand created at Bishop Museum. The brand new model includes a lady holding gentle to represent passing information to future generations. In distinction to the unique, the place she seems down on the gentle, this mural has her gazing upward in order that viewers can see her eyes. A distant management permits company to shift her eyes left or proper, bringing her to life as youngsters run behind her backlit arms.

“Mālamalama” by Kamea Hadar (pictured right here) represents Hawaiʻi’s youth passing information to future generations. Photograph by Sarah Burchard.

On the decrease stage, guests—particularly youngsters—are inspired to create their very own artwork. Two large chalkboards invite scribbles and sketches. Hadar mentioned he designed the area along with his three youngsters in thoughts, making it removed from the standard sterile, hands-off artwork displays present in museums.

Close by, limited-edition hats, shirts and different gadgets by native streetwear model Fitted can be obtainable for buy. Produced in small batches, they’re anticipated to promote out shortly.

As a result of public murals are largely prohibited in Waikīkī, that is the primary avenue artwork exhibition of its type to be hosted within the space. It’s sure to attract each locals and vacationers alike.

“We’re glad to simply deliver extra genuine native artwork and tradition to Waikīkī,” Hadar mentioned. “Anytime you could have native folks doing native issues for vacationers in Waikīkī, it’s factor.”

Tickets for “Within the Southern Solar” are on sale now at inthesouthernsun.com. They will even be obtainable on-site beginning July 21.

In The Southern Sun

@inthesouthernsun | @powwowworldwide

Location: 

Hyatt Regency Waikīkī Seashore Resort and Spa, 2424 Kalākaua Avenue, Waikīkī, Honolulu, HI 96815 (Situated within the former City Outfitters retailer on the nook of Kalākaua & Ka‘iulani Ave)

Value: 

Normal: $30

Kamaʻaina adults (18+): $25

Youth (7-18) : $17

Youngster (beneath 6): Free

OPENING ARTISTS

• Shar Tui‘asoa of Punky Aloha Studio — daring, female illustrations rooted in Pasifika storytelling (punkyaloha.com, @punkyaloha)

• Jack Soren — Native Hawaiian painter impressed by surf tradition, nostalgia, and generational reminiscence (jacksorensonfineart.com, @jacksoren)

• Nicky “Melón” Munoz of Gangway Gallery — graffiti-influenced superb artist identified for large-scale murals and dynamic textures (melonjamesoriginal.com, @olboy_melon)

• Jeff Gress — multidisciplinary artistic identified for typography, set up, and stage design (jgress.com, @pro_gress)

• Kamea Hadar — muralist and POW! WOW! co-founder/director whose portraiture bridges cultural and environmental identification (kameahadar.com, @kameahadar)

• Cory “Kamehana” Taum — Native Hawaiian sculptor and cultural practitioner focusing on place, cosmology, and materials storytelling (kamehanaokala.com, @kamehana_o_kala)

• Gavin Murai of Reckon Store — printmaker and experimental designer mixing Hawai‘i streetwear and visible archives (@reckonshop)

• Keola Naka‘ahiki Rapozo of FITTED Hawai‘i — Native Hawaiian storyteller and designer translating ʻŌiwi heritage into wearable tradition (fittedhawaii.com, @fitted)

• Noa Hardisty — O‘ahu-based muralist and surfer identified for daring strains and layered views. (noahardisty.com, @noahardisty)

• Decor and staging help by Ambient Leases, a boutique specialty leases studio primarily based in Hawai‘i.

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