CONTACT 2016: FOREIGN AND FAMILIAR
HONOLULU MUSEUM OF ART SCHOOL
1111 Victoria Street. Honolulu, HI 96814
EXHIBITION DATES
March 24 - April 17, 2016
Foreign and Familiar was juried by artist and university educator, Dr. Herman Piʻikea Clark (New Zealand) and curator, critic and Honolulu Biennial co-founder, Isabella Ellaheh Hughes.
The exhibition focused on the experiences of communities that have migrated to and from Hawai‘i, and the subsequent impact that this amalgam of cultures imparted on the Islands. Whether it was Hawaiians leaving the Islands as a result of Kamehameha’s unification; Henry Opukaha‘ia’s impassioned plea in Boston that brought the first missionaries to Hawai‘i to “save the savages;” the earliest Chinese merchants intermarrying with Hawaiians, yet leaving Hawaiian ethnicity off the birth certificates of their children; or arrival of refugees from Micronesia and other Pacific islands due to the testing of weapons by the U.S. military – these histories have shaped the socio-cultural, political and economic fabric of Hawai‘i.
Foreign and Familiar was not attached to a temporal time period; rather, artists were encouraged to think in broad terms on the impact that the foreign and familiar has on Hawaii’s future, present and past, offering new visualizations, both real and imagined, to navigate our relationships with our communities and island home.
STATEMENT
Foreign and Familiar describes the intersection between indigenous, kamaʻāina and settler cultures in Hawaiʻi and the impact this blending has had on shaping the character of our community and culture. In the development of this exhibition, Hawaiʻi artists were asked to respond to the concept foreign and familiar in the design and production of their works. Each artist has been challenged to consider the relationship between intimacy and interdependence - whether geographic, social, economic or ecological – that has come to define Hawai’i as a place and a people.
CURATORS / JURORS
Dr. Herman Pi‘ikea Clark (New Zealand) is a university educator, artist, designer and researcher of over twenty-years experience. He completed his Master’s of Fine Art in Visual Communication Design from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. As a Kanaka Maoli, Dr. Clark initiated the movement for Indigenous Art and Design studies at the University of Hawaii. He later continued this work in New Zealand where he implemented Maori and Pacific cultural philosophy into instruction within university level Design, Arts and Educational Studies programs at several tertiary institutions across the country. His doctoral study focused on the intersection of indigenous knowledge, technology and creative processes as a research and educational approach. Dr. Clark is Professor in the School of Indigenous Graduate Studies at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, one of NZ’s three accredited indigenous universities. Through the course of his international career as a university educator, researcher and practicing artist/designer, Dr. Clark has sought the translation of traditional knowledge and cultural concepts from the Pacific into applied academic and commercial applications for contemporary contexts.
Isabella Ellaheh Hughes (Hawai‘i) is the Artistic Director and Co-founder of the Honolulu Biennial Foundation, in addition to being a curator and critic focused on contemporary art from the Asian continent and Pacific with an interest in transculture and the global nomad artist. She’s written for ArtAsiaPacific, Brownbook, Contemporary Practices, Frieze, Harper’s Bazaar Art Arabia, Ibraaz and Whitehot Magazine, in addition to contributing to exhibition catalogues for the Singapore Art Museum, Bahrain’s Ministry of Culture and Barjeel Art Foundation. She is editor of the monograph, Sama Alshaibi: Sand Rushes In (Aperture Foundation, 2015) and has curated exhibitions nationally and internationally, including the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (DC), the Center on Contemporary Art (Seattle), the US Embassy (Abu Dhabi), Art Dubai and Ayyam Gallery (London), amongst others. Hughes has served as a nominator for the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship Program and Abraaj Capital Art Prize, as well as a juror for the YICCA 2013 International Contest of Contemporary Art and Art Omi International. A graduate of Punahou School, she has an MA in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins University and BA in Art History from Boston University.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
AJ Feducia
Alexia Moore
Andrew Yamauchi
Bernice Akamine
Brandon Ng
Brenda Rodriguez
Charlie Dickson
Chelsea Kahea Field
Chris Ritson
Christopher Lee Bailey
Cindy Imada
Claudia Edwards
Colleen Kimura
Cory Taum
Cotieng Beamer
Damon Kikkawa
Deanna Gabiga
Deborah G. Nehmad
Devin Oishi
Diana Lehr
Donna Louie
Douglas Young
Dru Hara
Eric Ordorica
Eric C. Cabato
Eric Ricky Allen Peters
Erika Garcia
George Woolard
Hal Lum
Hana Yoshihata
Hanale Hopfe
Harinani Orme and Debbie Young
Hayden Kahiau Butler
Helena Noordhoff
Imaikalani Kalahele
Jan Becket
Jan Dickey
Jane Chang Mi
Janetta Napp
Jerry Vasconcellos
Jessi Devera
José J. González
Joshua ʻIwi Lake
Kahi Ching
Kahiau Beamer
Kahikūkalā Hoe
Kai'ili Kaulukukui
Kamran Samimi
Kau'i Chun
Kazu Kauinana
KC Grennan
Keala Kahuanui-Paleka
Kevon Schiessel
Lance Genson Mahi La Pierre
Lauren Trangmar
Linny Morris
Marc Turner
Mark Alan Chai
Maya Lea Portner
Mealaaloha Bishop
Meleanna Aluli Meyer
Michelle Schwengel-Regala
Micki Kauwalu-Key
Momi Greene
Monica Woolsey
Mr. Olalehua
Nanea Lum
Neilson Ishida
Nina Yuen
Olivier Koning
Page Chang
PARADISE COVE
Pat Pine
Paul Anthony Galang
Rachael Roehl
Russell Sunabe
Ryan Lee
Scott Fitzel
Sheanae Tam
Sheika LeeAnn Alghezawi
Shelly Amine
Solomon Enos
Sonny Ganaden
Star Padilla
Taylor Johnson
Tomiko Jones
Ualani Davis
Z.G. Tong