Exhibit: Nā Kapa Kuʻina

Curator: Mina Elison

On-view: August 28 - October 9, 2021

Opening reception (by appointment)
Saturday, August 28, 2021 1:00 - 4:00 PM
*Registration required - Max 6 people per half hour

Curator Tour: Saturday, September 25, 2021, 2:00 - 3:00pm *Registration required

Artist Talk with Puakea Forester (ZOOM)
Thursday, September 9, 6:00 - 7:00 PM
*Registration required

Nā Kapa Kuʻina Artist Talk Story (ZOOM)
Thursday, September 30, 5:00 - 6:30pm
*Registration required

Puakea Forester
Ha ke Akua i ka Lewa, 2018
Kapa and dyes made of ‘ōlena, ukiuki, kukui and milo
22” x 34”

I ulu no ka lala i ke kumu. 
The branches grow because of the trunk.

'Olelo No'eau - Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings, #1261
Collected, translated and annotated by Mary Kawena Pukui

Featuring contemporary works of kapa artists from across Hawaiʻi, this exhibition celebrates these “branches” and the strong foundations from which their work emerges. With the rich ʻike and layered moʻokūʻauhau shared with them by their kumu, these artists embrace the kuleana presented to them as kapa practitioners, fiber artists and Kanaka ʻŌiwi. It is this kuleana which inspires them to continue learning and sharing through exploration and experimentation—reconnecting them with the hana of their ancestors and further strengthening the foundation for the future.

The art of making “cloth” from fibers connects Hawai’i with many cultures from around Moananuiākea and the world. This art form practiced in Hawaiʻi, ka hana kapa, differentiates itself in many ways, and through the continued resurgence in the practice of kapa making in Hawaiʻi, this exhibition features works which embody the knowledge and stories shared by renowned kapa and fiber artists from across the pae ʻāina.

Select Artist Bios:

Roen Hufford

Born on Molokai in 1950 and raised on Oʻahu, Roen Hufford has been a student of her mother, Marie McDonald all her life. She was introduced to a variety of art forms on Honolulu’s playgrounds as she shadowed her mother from a very young age. She graduated from Castle High School in Kāneʻohe in 1968, attended Pratt Institute from 1968 to 1970 and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1973.

Employed by the City & County of Honolulu as a Recreation Director, Roen later became a Recreation Specialist in Hawaiiana from 1973 to 1981. An accomplished lei maker and floral designer, Roen enjoys creating with plants. She has worked on large exhibitions like Flora Pacifica in the 1980s and owned and operated Aliʻi Florist in Kailua before moving to Kauaʻi where she worked at various florists and the Westin Kauaʻi. With her husband, Ken, she has farmed organic vegetables in Waimea for over thirty years. Special to her are two stands of wauke (paper mulberry) the raw material for kapa making, which she tends, inherited from her mother.

Roen began beating kapa in earnest in 2000 under the tutelage and insistence of her mother, Marie McDonald. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions and organized and conducted classes, workshops and demonstrations. Notable is her work with HOEA (Hawaiian ‘Ohana for Education in the Arts) a three-year art school funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and her participation in a Kapa Hula Collaboration which culminated in a performance by Halau o Kekuhi dancing in kapa at the Merrie Monarch Festival in 2011, at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center in 2014, and later at Kahilu Theater in Waimea.

Roen is a prominent part of a documentary, Ka Hana Kapa, which records the process and preparation for that event and the practice of beating kapa.

Her work can be found in private and public collections such as the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum, and is featured at the Gallery of Great Things and Isaacs Art Center both in Waimea.

Dalani Tanahy

The art of Hawaiian kapa or bark cloth making had been dormant for about sixty years and had recently entered a revival period when Dalani Tanahy began to learn, then embrace, then be captured by the many elements and moods of kapa.  An artist since childhood, she delighted in the creative process in all its forms. The road to being a kapa maker was a long and arduous one and Dalani was mostly self-taught as both a practitioner and hands-on instructor of the many arts involved in the making of kapa.  Part of her longevity in this art was directly because she enjoyed and was challenged by the many disciplines required in it, including horticulture, the natures of wood and stone for tool-making, the science of natural dyes and fermentation and above all, the patience to fashion the inner layer of tree bark into a soft pliable material.  Teaching it for almost 25 years helps to ensure that she can always look at kapa with fresh eyes as she tries to view and create the art as influenced by ancestral sensibilities.

Denby Freeland

Born and raised on Oʻahu and residing on Maui with her two children, Denby Freeland’s work spans a collection of watercolors, mixed media paintings and kapa, which capture the light, shadow, and rhythm of Hawaiʻi’s plants.  Her kapa reflects her respect for Hawaiian culture and environment through an ancient Hawaiian medium. 
 
Her career path has involved the arts and environment in Hawaiʻi including positions at the Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Center, Hawaiʻi Nature Center and the Hawaiʻi Land Trust. 
 
Denby’s artworks reveal her awareness of the sensitive environment that she lives in.  Her family history dates back many generations in Hawaiʻi, and with a lifetime of exposure to the renowned Hawaiian landscapes of her mother, Betty Hay Freeland, Denby has developed a unique style all her own to share her vision of Hawaiʻi. 
 
She graduated from Punahou School on Oʻahu, earned a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington, and her Master’s degree in Education at Heritage College, Washington.  While she has lived on the mainland and traveled extensively, including a backpacking trip around the world, Hawaiʻi is her heartfelt home. 

Bernice Akamine

Bernice Akamine began to pursue a career in art later in life than many artists, raising a family and then returning to school. During her studies at the University of Hawaiʻi she rediscovered art. Akamine changed her major and was awarded a Bachelor of Fine Arts in glass in 1994 and a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture and glass in 1999. 

While pursuing her studies at University, Akamine continued studying traditional Hawaiian art forms, such as hulu (feather work); kapa (bark cloth); and lauhala weaving. Akamine's grandmother, Kaha Halelaʻau a kahuna, Hawaiian healer, descended from generations of healers, and her mother, Audrey Elliott, a lauhala weaver, had a great influence on Akamine’s life trajectory as an artist and cultural practitioner. Akamine is recognized for her non-traditional use of kapa and hulu. Hawaiian moʻolelo, history and stories inform much of Akamine's artwork.

Kamalu du Preez

Kamalu du Preez is an Oʻahu-based Kanaka ʻŌiwi cultural practitioner, museum professional, and perpetual student of kapa. Kamalu has learned from multiple kumu kapa, and her most enduring mentorship comes directly from Moana Kalikookalani McPherson Eisele. 

Combining academic research and practical knowledge over the past twenty years, Kamalu focuses on engaging with ancestral practices, processes, and purposes to ensure future generations always have living connections to kapa.

Puakea Forester

Puakea Forester was born in Kahuku, O‘ahu to a woodworker, and an arts and religions professor at BYU-Hawaii. Puakea attended Ka‘a‘awa Elementary School where her kumu hula (teacher) Aunty Kawai Aona-Ueoka, instilled in her a love for hula, and a kuleana (responsibility) in making the kapa.

“There is profound mana held in the memories of our childhood. One such memory was of being a young girl in the mid 80s, watching my kumu singing with the rustling leaves of her wauke as she plucked the side shoots to make for good clean kapa, caressing them, as you would tending to your loved ones.” 

When a child bares witness to those in their community tending reciprocal, loving relations between themselves and ʻāina, they see where they too have a familial place amongst the natural world - thereby reducing the impact of colonizing extractive mentalities - resulting in a whole and meaningful sense of self to continue the work of healing and mending broken relationships with nature for our kūpuna (ancestors) & our mo’opuna (grandchildren). Puakea firmly grounds her life work centered upon these principles. With almost 25 years of teaching ages 2 to 101, Puakea brings with her a bold and joyful background in theater for social change, global & indigenous women's studies, ethnobotany, and fiber arts.

Kekai Kahokukaalani

Native Hawaiian Artist, Kekai Kahokukaalani was born and raised on the island of Molokai and currently resides on Maui. Her family is filled with lei makers, hula dancers, woodcarvers, and kapa makers.

Growing up on her ancestral lands, Kekai often assisted in soaking lauhala in her family river, playing in the wood chips of her father’s carvings, smoothing bamboo flutes with beach sand, and curiously poking at her mother’s kapa creations and dyes. Kekai’s parents raised their daughters in the world of art and encouraged them to share their cultures mo’olelo (story) in the medium that individually fits their personalities. Kapa making was the perfect fit for Kekai and once she learned the fundamentals, she began to mix the traditional and modern materials to create unique art and jewelry pieces.

Kekai is constantly inspired by the idea that her Hawaiian ancestors were artists that fearlessly pushed for more colors, more patterns, and more creativity. As a product of that culture, Kekai wishes to do the same.