Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 4, Number 3, 1 March 1987 — Museum Exhibits, Other Events Announced [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Museum Exhibits, Other Events Announced

Kauai Ooens Ho'olako with Torchliaht Proaram

Kauai celebratec3 Ho'olako 1987: The Year of the Hawaiian on Jan. 16 with a torchlight ceremony and brief addresses on the grounds of the Kauai County Building in Lihue. Representatives of Hawaiian organizations such as the Kaahumahu Society, Hawaiian Civic Clubs, Hale O Na Alii, Royal Order of Kamehameha, Department of Education kupuna and others combined to make for a simple but colorful ceremony. Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees Chairman Moses K. Keale Sr. and Ho'olako President and OHA Trustee Thomas K. (Unele Tommy) Kaulukukui were on hand to participate in the program. Kaulukukui and Kauai County Mayor Tony T. Kunimura briefly addressed the group. Danita McGregor Aiu, director of public information and complaints for the county, coordinated the program and served as mistress of ceremonies. Aiu also serves as Kauai chairperson for Ho'olako 1987.

A recent editorial in the Garden Island newspaper gave the Mayor special recognition for "a unique tribute paid to our Hawaiian legacy" at a meeting of the Kauai Eeonomie Development Board. "Instead of concerning itself with the Board's current activities, he reminded his business-oriented audience that we should not lose sight of the great respect we owe the Hawaiian people. Respect for the aloha spirit, respect for the splendid land, respect for the Polynesians as gracious hosts to all who have followed them. As the Year of the Hawaiian unfolds, and with a new unswelling of Aloha and vitality from a new administration in Honolulu, it may well be that we will all have a new perspective on the direction in whieh our state is moving, and just where our priorities should lie," the editorial went on. Following the official opening ceremonies, the Kauai Museum helds its own program the next day in conjunction with The Year of the Hawaiian with entertainment by Malie, showing of a documentary film, "The Hawaiian Quilt," by Elaine Zinn and Richard J. Tibbetts Jr. and Hawaiian quilt lecture and demonstration by Meali'i Kalama and na hana a me na mea pa'ani Hawaii (Hawaiian practices and games). The Museum on Mar. 7 will feature lauhala artisan and kupuna Esther Makua'ole in ka hana ulana or lauhala weaving. It will be followed on Apr. 2 with a very special exhibit called "Reuben Tam: Early and New Landscapes." The hours are 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tam, born on Kauai, has returned home after living in Maine and New York City for 40years. He continues to paint and write in his Kapa'a home. Tam's paintings are represented in more than 40 museum collections nationwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian Institute. He has held 35 one-man exhibitions nationwide and has won many prestigious awards. Other museum events, all geared in celebration of Ho'olako 1987, are: Apr. 4 — "The Creation Myth in the Pacific (The

Kumulipo), Hawaiian Chant of Creation." Slide show, lecture and interpretation by Dr. Rubellite Johnson. Apr. 18 — Lei-making workshop with Kepa Maly, museum educational coordinator. May 1 — Annual Kauai Museum and Kauai County lei day contest; also exhibit opening of recent paintings by Laka Morton. May 2 — Floral arrangement with Clarence Palama. June 6 — Niihau shell leis, lecture and demonstration with Lena Mendonca. June 18 — Exhibit opening of Wafuku, kimono and obi, from the collection of Carol Ann Davis. Another big Ho'olako event is the "Sela Moku Pants Dance" on Aug. 15, a ho'olaulea of food, crafts and street dance with various bands staged throughout the grounds of the government buildings. Still another event is scheduled for August or September in the first ever sailing/paddling eanoe race from Oahu to Kauai. Weather conditions will determine the exact date.

Danita McGregor Aiu, Kauai's Ho'olako 1987 committee chairperson, conducts torchlight program. Kauai County Mayor Tony T. Kunimura is seated to her right.

Nathan Kama, a member of Kauai's Ho'olako 1987 committee, leads Hawaiian groups witha chant into their respective areas for opening ceremonies.