Pāʻina Pōʻalima Adds Aloha to Fourth Fridays at HiSAM

Photo: Brandyn Liu

The Hawai‘i State Art Museum is all for collaborating and building stronger connections within the local art community. Now it’s joined forces with the Honolulu Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts to present Pāʻina Pōʻalima, a new monthly event that celebrates the music, creative expression, dance and foods of Hawai‘i and cultures across the Pacific. “Our offices at MOCA and HiSAM do much of the same type of work, and most times have similar goals,” says S. Kielekū Amundson, MOCA’s events manager. “It was a natural progression for us to put our resources together to amplify the work of HiSAM and MOCA.”

MOCA was founded in 1971 and has since provided Honolulu with a variety of culture and arts programming, from its public artwork collection and the annual Honolulu City Lights to more recent sculpture installations at Thomas Square and its partnership with Hawai‘i Triennial 2022. Through its partnership with HiSAM, MOCA’s art now extends into the museum. “Native Hawaiians and Pasifika peoples are underrepresented in the fine art space,” Amundson explains, “so we desire to create an inclusive environment that supports the arts and creative expression in all its forms for our diverse community.”

Photo: Brandyn Liu

Pāʻina Pōʻalima’s June launch event featured live music by Nanea, whose members include veteran Hawaiian musicians Kū Souza, Bryan Tolentino and Kama Hopkins. In addition to musical guests and live performances, this monthly event also offers a taste of Hawaiian and Pacific Island culture through curated food vendors and pop-up shops. The first event included amazing contemporary Hawaiian food from Nui Kealoha (regularly featured at the Hawai‘i Food and Wine Festival) and creatively flavored kava from Kapa Kava. And local mu‘umu‘u and vintage clothing shop DeStash Hawai‘i was there too with its own pop-up.

Photo: Brandyn Liu

Programming is already in the works for upcoming events on every fourth Friday of the month, from 6 to 9 p.m. The next one on July 22 will feature Hawaiian music and Pasifika acts. “Pāʻina Pōʻalima is really meant to bring more Native Hawaiian and Pacific performances and art experiences into HiSAM,” Amundson says. “We hope to draw more of our community into the museum to participate in activities of our people and for our people.”

Free admission, all ages. Hawai‘i State Art Museum, 250 S. Hotel St., @hawaiistateartmuseum, @hnl_moca.

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.