Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 4, Number 5, 1 May 1987 — New Museum Exhibit Highlights Culture [ARTICLE]

New Museum Exhibit Highlights Culture

Bishop Museum's "Legacy of Excellence: Highlights of Hawaiian Culture," is a new exhibition whieh opened May 1.) It shows the excellence attained by early Hawaiians in 14 major cultural areas. The exhibition features areas in whieh Hawaiians excelled. They include fiber arts, canoes, featherwork, sports and games, agriculture, chants and religion. The exhibition is inspired by the "cultural peaks" theory developed by Hawaiiana expert Donald K. Mitchell. Selected artifacts from Bishop Museum collections, representing the finest examples in these areas, will be shown alongside photographs of contemporary craftsman demonstrating the "legacy of excellence" that survives in modern Hawai'i. With this exhibition, Bishop Museum commemorates Ho'olako 1987: the "Year of the Hawaiian." To complement the overview exhibit in the Vestibule Gallery, an Artisan's Gallery will open July in the Kahili Room. Mini exhibits will highlight selected cultural peaks. Traditional artisans will demonstrate eontemporary versions of Hawaiian featherwork, woodworking, fiber arts (twined baskets, plaited mats), musical instruments and fishing (nets, hooks). "Legacy of Excellence: Highlights of Hawaiian Culture" is on display through the end of the year.