Talk Story With Hawai‘i Triennial 2022 Artists at HiSAM

The citywide contemporary art celebration Hawai‘i Triennial 2022 may be over but you can still catch extended exhibits on display at HiSAM and attend free public programs until Dec. 3. HiSAM and Hawai‘i Contemporary are giving a rare opportunity to learn more about HT22 straight from the artists themselves with their Art in Conversation series. Artists share their works from HT22 and invite members of the audience to pick their brains. Do you sometimes wonder how an artist came up with their ideas? What drives them to do what they do? What secrets can they reveal about their art-making process? Here, you just might find answers to all your questions.

Noe Tanigawa with Ed Greevy. Photo: Brandyn Liu

Past artist talks have featured Lawrence Seward, who discussed his local newspaper from the future, Seaward Sun, and photographer Ed Greevy, who reminisced about his decadeslong partnership with late Hawaiian activist Haunani-Kay Trask. These talks were moderated by Hawai‘i Contemporary’s executive director, Katherine Don, and journalist Noe Tanigawa. ‘Ai Pōhaku Press, Tropic Editions, Aupuni Space and Ulu Kupu presented their talks as a multicollective collaboration.

This month’s enlightening artist talk moderated by Josh Tengan, Hawai‘i Contemporary associate director, included members of the Aotearoa-based collective Pacific Sisters: Rosanna Raymond, Feeonaa Clifton and Suzanne Tamaki. They flew in for the event to discuss their art collective, use of augmented reality, and their work, Te Pu o Te Wheke, which features striking portraits of powerful avatars that they created. Watch a recording of this inspiring talk on the Hawai‘i Contemporary Facebook page.

From left: Josh Tengan, Feeonaa Clifton, Suzanne Tamaki and Rosanna Raymond. Photo: Brandyn Liu

The Art in Conversation series is presented in partnership with ‘Ōlelo Community Media. If you’re not able to make it in person you can watch upcoming talks streamed live on olelo.org.

Future talks are in the works, including one with groundbreaking local filmmaker Sancia Shiba Nash with photographer and activist Richard Hamasaki as the moderator. Nash will discuss her roles as a visual and oral storyteller, and how her and others’ work is sparking change in Hawai‘i through film. Stay tuned for details.

Free admission, Hawai‘i State Art Museum, 250 S. Hotel St., second floor Turnaround Gallery. Follow @hawaiistateartmuseum and @hawaiicontemporary for new announcements.

Lisa Shiroma is a correspondent for HiSAM and is an artist and art educator. Lisa is the former owner of the HiSAM Museum Gallery Shop, which she ran with partners Aly Ishikuni-Sasaki and Travis Sasaki from Mori by Art + Flea from 2017 to June 2020.