Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 8, 1 August 2002 — Artist battles cultural genocide with beauty [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Artist battles cultural genocide with beauty

By Naomi Sodetani Hiko'ula Hanapi creates in his South Kohala studio amidst 100-year old milo groves, whispering winds and a panoramic view of five sacred mountains, and visited by native bats and "auku'u herons. Hanapi"s recent pastel drawing " Puakō Mango " expresses his love for his home, nostalgia for a fond island lifestyle — and mueh more. Wearing a carved honu pendant, a young Hawaiian man sporting tattoos of the Hawaiian flag and the word "Puakō" on his body, peels and eats ripe mango. Hanapi explains that the drawing represents the fierce love that Native Hawaiians feel for their homeland, as represented by "symbols of sovereignty, culture, honu, the piercing pain of eolonial oeeupation andthe sheer pleasure of eating mangoes." This month, Hanapi"s work is featured in two solo exhibits at the Pacific American Galleiy and at the Aupuni Artwall at Native Books Kapālama. "A Hawaiian Portfolio //," a retrospective of works span-

ning 26 years, features "ancestral and contemporary creations inspired by 'ohana, nā hoa aloha andthe keeping of the Hawaiian in art and the drama in the koko," he said. "A Hawaiian Portfolio //" displays the artist's remarkable evolution in richly- detailed

images that celebrate the strength, sensuality, and spirituality of the Hawaiian culture. His early drawings are earthy, idealized scenes of ancient Hawai'i, while more recent works function as abstract story boards using ancient symbols to explore contemporary them.es andglobal concerns.

The artist employs the ha'i mocolelo (,st.orv-tellin2:N) t.radi-

tion, visually interpreting ancient myths, revealing their relevance for modern tim.es. Hanapi"s photographs document early Hawaiian activism, including the fight against the bombing of Kaho'olawe, and

his "E Huaka'i Pele!" (Pele Travels!) series warns of the dark side of technology, drawing parallels between fire-making and nuclear power. Committed to feeding the flame of his culture and his community,

the visionaiy artist is also batthng the racism deeply embedded in the Hawaici arts industry. While native artists and traditional practitioner seme as vessels of their culture, channelling the mana, the pain, aspirations and histoiy of their people, non-native artists are the ones earning hefty fees painting

exotic seascapes, seductive hula dancers, or lounging Hawaiian women, Hanapi says. "f/Iaster Hawaiian artists often don't get paid, don't e\'en get gas money" — mueh less large public or

private commissions. Tourism also packages "aloha, culture and art as a product and this harms our people and fosters cultural genocide," the artist says. "Just look at the art that's in the Convention Center; Hawaiian visual themes are every~ whare but not one created by a Native Hawaiian artist. What does this say to Native Hawaiians?" Hanapi was born in Honolulu to a family ofartists and musicians. His brother, sculptor Alapa'i, lives on Nloloka'i. He obtained formal arts training at the Honolulu Academy of Arts during high school, then majored in botany in college. During the renaissance of the '70s, he witnessed how Hawaiian culture and arts played a leading role in the Hawaiian Renaissance and ulti~ mately led the way for future acts of pono, not only for the Hawaiian people but for all the people of Hawai'i." Over the years, Hanapi' has worked as a photographer, a parks ranger, arts and Hawaiian Studies teacher in the schools, and educa~ tion coordinator for the sovereignty education group, Hui N a' auao . In 1 998, Hanapi' founded the Keōmailani Hanap'i Foundation to empower traditional and contempo~ raiy Native Hawaiian artists by increasing venues and eeonomie opportunities, expanding arts edu~ cation programs and offaring schol~ See HANAPI on page 14

Hina'opuhalako'a, mother of the oeean world, clothed by her coral reefs and spiny shell creatures.

HANAPI from page 5 arships to taleuted youth, to implement native artist residencies, and recognizing Hawaiian art excellenee. The foundation is lobbying to create an Office of Hawaiian Culture and Arts, launeh a Pacific Islander Art Market like ihe Native Americans' Indian Mlarket, and designate Volcanoes National Park as a Hawaiian cultural center. "The right to self-determination for Hawaiians is not limited to political sov ereignty," Hanapi says. "It includes all facets of Hawaiian society, histoiy, language, culture and the arts. What we want to do is bring pono to ihe community." "A Hawaiian Portfolio II " shows thro ugh A ugust 22 at Native Books Kapālama, 1244 N. School St. The Paeiūe American Gallery exhibit opens on 8/24 with the artist's reception 11 a.m.-4 p.m., and runs through 9/7, 925 Bethel St. ■