Courtesy: http://www.hawaiikakou.org/. Click the image to get hi-res picture of the mural.

“Is art dangerous?” Asked a 13-year old boy at the end of a school arts presentation by renowned Native Hawaiian artist Solomon Enos. Enos responded: “Absolutely! Those who created junk food and video games are artists. Artists have the power to create. So correspondingly, we have a responsibility. . .” It is with this sense of responsibility that 5 Native Hawaiian artists and 22 art students visually represented indigenous voice in global economics in a 640 square foot mural at the Hawaii Convention Center.

The Hawaii Kakou mural was created by the Hawai‘i Kākou Community Mural Project headed by Lead Artist Meleanna Meyer. She was joined by fellow kumu (teacher) artists Solomon Enos, Kahi Ching, Al Lagunero and Harinani Orme together with six alakai (leaders) and a featured team of 17 talented haumana (students), ages 12 to 19, that came from various public, private, charter and Hawaiian immersion schools.

Through the www.HawaiiKakou.org website and facebook, the Hawaii Kakou team welcomed stories, images, and sayings from indigenous communities to compile “new old wisdom” (indigenous wisdom that has new relevance today). The team gather mana’o from elders and community leaders at the Center for Native Hawaiian Advancement Convention. We researched and studied indigenous traditions/images from the 21 APEC countries. We encouraged University students to root out “new old wisdom” by gathering first hand stories from families, classmates, and friends of friends. The goal was to involve community in every aspect of the mural and to have the process itself be a community-building exercise. The hope was that everyone who viewed the mural will feel, in some way, included in it—we must find ourselves in each other, recognizing each other as family and not strangers.

To make sure that the learning process extended beyond the visual experience, we created four interactive learning guides to share the project learnings within the Hawaiian community and beyond. Learning Guides focused on messages of Hawaii Kakou (collaboration and sharing), Pohai ke Akua (relationship with spirit), Ho’ola ka Honua (relationship with earth), and Auamo Kuleana (balancing responsibilities). “What we face in this project is a profound challenge: to take the whole coconut grove and put it back into the seed,” said Kumu Al Lagunero.

“New Old Wisdom”

The Hawai‘i Kākou Community Mural Project served as a visual response to the gathering of world economies in Hawai‘i and gave voice to timeless indigenous wisdom that could inform long term thinking of world leaders.

The mural is rich with abstract symbols representing the four elements of earth, water, wind and fire, as well as the connection between humans and nature. “The unifying theme really has to do with a consciousness of native wisdom distilled through a conversation about humanity and a valuing of traditions that honor relationships and, most importantly, a currency of care and commodity of sharing,” said co-organizer Maile Meyer.

To take it all in, she recommends starting in the middle with an orb of light, which she described as a “portal,” and moving out toward the edges. On the left side of the mural there is an expanse of cannons representing Earth’s timeless pinnacles, and on the right, rivulets of water representing the seas. Stretching from one end to the other across the top is an auamo, or carrying stick typically placed over the shoulders for balance. It represents the human responsibility of caring for papa honua (Mother Earth) and all her resources, including the seas and the skies, Meyer said.

The mural is acrylic paint on plywood in a palette of earth colors, mostly oranges, browns, yellows and reds, with touches of blue and green.

There are human figures in the mural, representing indigenous peoples. Multilayered shapes and swirls are reminiscent of the curvatures of the earth, sun and moon. Look closer and you might make out details such as a fishing net, a kalo (taro) leaf and the repeated patterns of a petroglyph stenciled along the left corner border.

Beyond the art styles and skills involved in creating the mural, Hawai‘i Kākou is a strong
medium that gives Hawaiian artists a chance to share the indigenous perspective of community economics – an economy that is based on sharing, relationships and aloha. Kumu Meleanna puts it more aptly, “Art is our visual currency. We trade in heartworks; we trade in spirit; we trade in aloha (love).”

For more information or to request a copy of the mural and/or the learning guides, please email us at mural@hawaiikakou.org.

Disclaimer: ICCS US does not claim this article as their production. ICCS US deeply acknowledges http://www.hawaiikakou.org/ for sharing such beautiful piece of art.