Festival of the Pacific, the world’s largest arts and culture event featuring indigenous Pacific Islanders, will make its debut in Hawai’i.
The South Pacific Commission (now The Pacific Community, SPC) established this vibrant exhibition of arts and culture in 1972. It is held every four years at a different location. This is the first time it will be held in Hawai’i.
According to their website, it is an enriching event that honors the various cultures of the Pacific region through artistic expressions and unique traditions. Pacific Island nations are able to showcase their creativity and rich cultural heritage through this festival.
The festival aimed to provide a space for Pacific Islanders to gather and showcase their traditional arts, crafts, music, dance, and oral traditions. Their ultimate goal was to foster cultural unity among Pacific Island communities and promote a broader appreciation and understanding of their cultures.
FestPac will take place all across Honolulu. Honolulu magazine stated that the Capitol Modern will play a major role as one of the primary venues. Here, heritage dance groups will perform, cultural presentations will be held, and curated art exhibitions will be showcased.
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Under the theme “Ke Ao Lama (Enlightened World),” the museum’s activities will spotlight the ingenuity of Pacific peoples, spanning from traditional practices to contemporary expressions, and emphasizing the evolution of enlightened native thought and creativity.
The festival takes place June 6-16 and is free and accessible to the public.
The opening ceremony at Capitol Modern will be Friday June 7 from 5 PM to 10 PM. There will be musical performances and the introduction of five interconnected art exhibitions on the first and second floor of the museum.
“Our Sea of Islands,” an exhibition organized by Dr. C. Makanani Salā and Alyssa Chau of Gravitas Pasifika, is on display in the ‘Ewa Gallery upstairs. You can also find Dr. Frances Koya Vaka’uta’s “PILINA: My Relationships Are My Heritage and Wealth” in the same gallery, where it will feature highlights from the festival’s past 50 years.
The exhibition “Ai ā manō,” co-curated by Native Hawaiian artists and educators Drew Kahu’āina Broderick, Kapulani Landgraf, and Kaili Chun, is on display in the second floor Lē‘ahi Gallery.
“Nā Akua Ākea: The Vast and Numerous Deities” is located towards the back of the gallery and features both modern and traditional weaving styles by artists Kumulā‘au and Haunani Balino-Sing, along with their students. This includes traditional ulana ‘ie‘ie (Hawaiian twined basketry) while exploring themes like shapeshifters, goddesses, demigods, ancestral images, and “aumakua” are all explored in this show.
Contemporary Native Hawaiian artist Solomon Enos will also be featured in this festival. On the first floor, you will find “Ki’i Mua – Future Forms,” an immersive installation by Enos. This creative exhibit uses a combination of cutting-edge methods, such as 3D printing, digital sculpting, and virtual reality, to reimagine images of Ki‘i (Hawaiian gods, deities, and ancestors) from the future.
This is just a little snippet of what you can expect to see at the start of this festival. Visitors can witness a wide variety of Pacific cultural presentations and exhibits during this event and at different locations.
If you are interested you can visit the festival schedule or capitolmodern.org and festpachawaii.org for more information.
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