Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / Kauwila Mahi and Ka‘imina‘auao Kahikina on Wahi Pana: Storied Places, a temporary art program

Transcript

Kauwila Mahi and Ka‘imina‘auao Kahikina on Wahi Pana: Storied Places, a temporary art program · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

0:14
Welcome to the One Oahu podcast.
0:16
I'm your host, Brandi Higa.
0:18
And this week, we're shining a light on Voorhees.
0:20
On a storied place as a temporary art program created by the City
0:24
and County of Honolulu through a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
0:28
This project, which launched last year, includes art installations at activate
0:32
sites across Oahu by highlighting the complex histories of each place.
0:37
And this week,
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we're joined by two very talented men who are experts in this history.
0:43
They are historians, researchers and amazing
0:46
storytellers Kauwila Mahi and kaiminaaoau Kahikina.
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Thank you all for joining me.
0:51
Mahalo.
0:52
were there any stories you learned?
0:54
From those installations as part of phase one that you didn't know before?
0:58
There was kind of like a woe kind of moment for you?
1:01
I mean, yes, most of what
1:04
I pulled from the archive, I didn't know before.
1:07
Yeah.
1:07
So that's what makes it exciting, right?
1:10
As, like a researcher, like, I'm.
1:12
I have a background.
1:13
I do more research for, you know, my halau and, like, things for hula related.
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That's a big interest of mine.
1:20
But actually learning about certain places
1:24
that I see everyday, I didn't think to do it at the time.
1:27
And then through this project, I was like, of course we need to do this work.
1:31
And I learned so much about each area
1:34
that we, we, studied during phase one.
1:38
And then as we've moved on, the next phase is also produced and,
1:43
you know, incredible wealth of knowledge that I didn't know existed before.
1:46
Yeah. What about for you?
1:48
Think really?
1:49
Similarly, there are some of the more
1:52
that I kind of reviewed, and some of these I know
1:56
are just ones that I grew up with, ones that I've heard from different kumu.
1:59
But really looking at, this being shared in our archive, in our newspapers,
2:05
was really part of what I think one of the coolest ways
2:07
I've learned through this project is by just hearing me talk
2:11
about these small a lot that they're uncovering and then gaining
2:15
new insights from, like, talking stories and bouncing ideas off each other.
2:19
And even when we're just like, sharing these small, yeah,
2:23
we kind of get these new layers of stories and things that we both,
2:26
you know, that maybe the other person didn't know in a really good way.
2:30
And that's been kind of one of the most exciting parts for me about this
2:34
project is like, oh, I can just go, I'm all alone for my all alone with my friend
2:39
and try to learn
2:41
all these hidden layers or hidden in plain sight to us.
2:46
And in that way, like, I think there's so many
2:51
opportunities for folks to learn
2:53
these stories of place by interacting with the people around them.
2:57
And even I think that Brian
3:00
Kamaoli Kuwada, he said in interviews, like,
3:04
Hawaiians weren't necessarily obsessed with telling the truth version of a story.
3:10
What the Moana is giving multiple versions of that story.
3:14
And that's one of the meanings of mana, is having all of these
3:17
different versions of that story
3:19
that all contribute to the larger concept or the larger story of that is.
3:24
Yeah. Yeah. That's so interesting.
3:26
And then, of course, came face to like you mentioned, you guys, you know,
3:29
learn throughout phase two,
3:30
includes art at kapiolani park, hanauma bay And, koko crater botanical garden.
3:34
Anyone can take this.
3:35
But what's special with these installations and phase two?
3:40
I'll start on one end.
3:42
One of the, projects
3:44
I got to work on was with Kapiolani Park.
3:47
So one of the story is part of a colony park.
3:51
And that whole area in general I actually first heard through, Lilikalā
3:55
Kameʻeleihiwa Amazing, amazing scholar
4:00
and community organizer for our people,
4:03
especially in the 1990s.
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And I heard this story of Kamehameha.
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And so that there's just, like, an initial connection to this story.
4:13
And her grandson was the artist for the installation
4:16
at Kapiolani Park, and he didn't know that story.
4:20
And so I just kind of a fun way to,
4:23
find this intergenerational sharing of knowledge through their family,
4:27
the different storytellers on both sides of this family.
4:30
Whether they're musicians or just the regular everyday auntie uncle,
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that has so much power.
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It's such a great reminder of how many stories are inside of our families,
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whether we know it or not,
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whether we think they're like a far more really long story
4:48
that can be really great.
4:49
But there's also these really intimate stories of place from just
4:53
people's childhoods and experiences that are really important.
4:57
And I was getting to those and,
4:59
following Koloikeao installation at Kapiolani Park, where,
5:04
we have kuenaena
5:08
and this akua.
5:09
And with Koloikeao's pieces.
5:13
He really is trying to confront
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how we understand this, kii akua
5:18
or this, image of ku who has ownership of it
5:24
over its images to a certain extent, and contesting that,
5:29
what kind of stories have school had in that place?
5:34
With the
5:35
forceful unification
5:36
of the islands under Kamehameha?
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And also the heiau or luakini,
5:42
these or these temples that were there.
5:46
Trying to unearth and specificities within those spaces.
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So one example would be,
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and, that political campaign of Kamehameha as he's on his way
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to defeat fight folks like kalanikupule
6:01
and the Oahu chiefs in what is now
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mostly referred to as a battle of nuuanu.
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They don't go near Kahala near kaalaoi
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and move towards Leahi.
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And when they're in Leahi/Laiahi is the beginning of what's called
6:21
kaelekaanae which is the original name of the battle of Nuuanu.
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And the reason that got that name is because the anae,
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metaphor for the Oahu chiefs.
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And so I was coming up on my house going up to this really large battle,
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this kind of one of the largest battles that happens for Kamehameha
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which really determines is conquering of most of or force.
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Sorry, not conquering forceful unification
6:45
of the Hawaiian Islands like this is one of those last steps.
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He seeks out a couple of different folks
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and one the people that he seeks out to dedicate.
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Is kalanikupule for the, what is now referred to as Papaenaena Heiau
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some previously also referred to as leahi heiau
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and sometimes referred to as leahi luakini inside of
7:10
kamakau.
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And so having all of these layers alongside her her
7:15
the artist's personal connection to this story is a place
7:19
is has been such a rewarding,
7:23
I guess, restoring of this place and re carving out
7:27
these images of what places like Leahi represent for our people.
7:31
It's not just this postcard image that's showing all around the world.
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It's layered.
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It has multiple histories
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and really deep histories that aren't only held in archives,
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but our held by our people and how they contested space
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and how they love that space, which is why it's in so many of our songs.
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And in so much of our writing, and also why it's shared
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as an image of humility to the rest of the world.
7:57
Kaimi did you want to share something that stood out to you from Phase two?
8:00
Phase two was, we had also had Hanauma Bay,
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and then we also had, Koko
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Head Botanical Garden, kohe lepe lepe.
8:12
I think
8:13
what really stood out to me was, that was really special
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was I worked with the artist Ualani Davis on Koko Head.
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kohe lepe lepe on the moolelo,
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and what I was really impressed about, was that Ualani did her research herself.
8:30
She thought it was really important that she connect to the moolelo
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that she was producing.
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So part of the process that we were doing is that us as researchers, we would hand
8:40
over or share parts of moolelo that we found with the artists.
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The, you know, if it was something they weren't able
8:47
to access in Hawaiian language and then we would share that, but Ualani
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you know, she went into her own, you know, practice of research and pulled out
8:57
this incredible story of Liliuokalani’s kuokoa gardens or Independence Gardens.
9:03
And that sort of been the impetus
9:08
for her creating this sort of a kuokoa garden within
9:12
kohe lepe lepe, which is the cyanotypes of, native plants.
9:20
ihiihilauakea,
9:21
kukui, and I forget the other one off the top of my head.
9:24
But when the sun shines, it's, you know, for specific times of the year,
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it reflects down or it shoots down onto the ground.
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The, the image of the sound cyanotype, which is really, really incredible.
9:38
But the moolelo itself about Liliu, resistance,
9:42
these beautiful ways of enacting resistance,
9:46
through the, the, you know, through the latter part of her life.
9:50
Also, the mana of wahine in storytelling, the mana of wahine
9:55
in and stories of consent, like the story of kohe lepe
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lepe is a story about consent that was breached by kamapuaa over Pele
10:06
you know and Kapoulakiinau throwing her vagina across the ocean
10:08
landing at kohe lepe lepe to save her sister.
10:11
So these, that are really important about, you know, the experiences of wahine,
10:15
but also the mana of wahine in general.
10:19
So I was that one was a really exciting one for me to participate in
10:22
just because I got to do research.
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But I got to just kind of jeuje what all I needed.
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She already did a lot, so I just had to, like, format it
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and then add a little bit more context to certain things.
10:33
is exciting.
10:34
Phase three super exciting as well, because this one kind of takes us out
10:38
of the city, out of Honolulu.
10:39
Yeah.
10:39
So places like Kahe Point,
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the North Shore and Kaneohe sites with their own special stories.
10:45
Really. What did you folks like about phase three?
10:49
I guess I'll start off with phase three.
10:51
I got to work with, Kaili
10:54
Chun on her piece up in Hoomaluhia Botanical Gardens Malu here.
10:58
Botanical gardens.
10:59
What I really enjoyed about this is I didn't know
11:02
much about Koolaupoko in general.
11:05
But I had to learn about in order to share that my
11:08
not only and share that history with, Kaiii who is from that area.
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And so I learned about the, the I, you know, the research I did
11:18
was about the puu.
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Hiilani, wailanihuli, keahiakahoe
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and what's the other one?
11:26
konahuanui and the moolelo
11:29
behind those peaks, which are so beautiful and famous.
11:32
Cloud swept. Foggy.
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We see them every day if you're driving from Kaneohe into town.
11:38
So that was really exciting.
11:40
And Kahe point right now is, is, research is forthcoming.
11:45
I'm still working on it.
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But those pieces I highly recommend people
11:50
go to kahe point and go look at the mural.
11:53
The murals over there, they're they're just incredible.
11:55
And then who else?
11:58
So that's all Paige and Paige
12:01
should be here to share about, the Haleiwa side.
12:05
You know, that's that's her side of the island.
12:07
And she did the research and lani wahine,
12:10
for that particular installation, but she should share that.
12:14
Yeah.
12:14
I want to talk about this space that we're in now here at the Hyatt.
12:18
For those who are familiar, it's an immersive art experience.
12:22
It frames a history of Waikiki.
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And I personally think it's kind of the coolest exhibit here in Hawaii right now.
12:27
You know, incredible photo ops.
12:29
There's spaces where you can make yourself look like an Instagram influencer.
12:32
Yeah, there's spaces that resemble like the Museum of Illusions almost.
12:36
There's a space in the
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dark room in the back that almost makes you feel like you're back in, like,
12:40
team labs in Japan.
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But this is Hawaii's version.
12:43
Of course, if you could explain to people who aren't familiar with this space
12:48
what it is and what to expect if they do plan to come.
12:52
So the location where, is and the southern sun right
12:56
at the lee of Waikiki are what some people interpret as the edge of Waikiki.
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But what's really great about being in this space is it confronts
13:05
two histories, a history of this place from time immemorial,
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and the contemporary retellings of this history, and offers
13:13
artists interpretations of this place of Waikiki.
13:16
There are here of light up here and, the installation, the folks with
13:22
I have is called Moana Ono and Moana.
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Ono is one of the names of the winds from the are here that goes into
13:29
Kaimuki and also goes into parts of Waikiki and Moana.
13:34
Ono is or Moana is like B
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and Ono is to pile up really high, almost as if it's an altar.
13:42
And it's a really great description for what is in this place where we have
13:45
really amazing stories and visual stories
13:50
of what is the under there, what is the,
13:56
layered model?
13:56
A lot of Waikiki.
13:58
We have folks interpretations of their connection to this place
14:02
and being in this.
14:04
Yeah.
14:05
Amazing exhibit has and gives us an opportunity
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to not only contest and show what we know, but also show
14:14
and confront histories that are ongoing or,
14:19
people are attempting to encroach or supplant or replace
14:23
and ensuring that those stories of this place continue to have power.
14:26
Here.
14:27
You can still confront the colonialist
14:30
moves and like colonizing Hawaii, and all of these storytellers
14:35
are looking to and have confronted those histories by offering their art.
14:41
What's really great about this place, too, that I think about every time I come in
14:44
here, is that the artists are also part of community as well.
14:49
So they're not like producing art from away from Hawaii
14:53
and then mass reproducing it here.
14:55
I mean, these are like local artists who, who are really loved.
14:59
So it's it's yeah, that's really awesome too,
15:02
is just the sense of community too, that comes along with this place.
15:05
You know, whether folks come here or they visit an installation
15:09
that we talked about all across.
15:11
Oh, what do you hope they take away?
15:15
And that could be if someone lived here
15:16
their whole life or they're a visitor here for the first time.
15:19
I'm a big person about
15:23
knowing, like through this process and this project,
15:25
knowing about where you're from.
15:27
Like, I think the most important thing is this is just a starting point
15:31
to start to unveil, histories that have kind of been
15:36
built over basically by modern infrastructure.
15:39
It's asking those who visit over here on the sites to know your winds, know
15:45
your rain's, know your waters, know the, the names of, that you need.
15:50
I know that I hope you're, that you're from the side.
15:52
The directions of the islands are different names.
15:55
You know, to have a better to be really come Aina to become
15:59
come aina to your place.
16:00
You know, it's not enough to just say
16:02
you're coming in not to somewhere and not know anything about that place.
16:06
And so we're kind of also contesting that modern narrative in a sense,
16:10
which says that people can just move to Hawaii and say they're kama aina.
16:14
But the truth is, to become a aina also means
16:16
you have a wealth of knowledge about the place that you're from.
16:18
You know, to be a Cooper to similarly.
16:20
So I hope that people will a I'll come aina to their place
16:24
or to become common or in some way, shape or form to that.
16:28
I know that sustains them.
16:29
You know, I should have gone first because I cannot follow that up.
16:34
But one of the
16:35
I think the key takeaways for me, for folks
16:38
who travel with outside, experiencing these places, these stories,
16:44
these intimacies is, the folks who are working
16:48
with these stories and visual stories and audio stories
16:53
have, increased their intimacy to this place as well.
16:57
So it's not just, folks who are experiencing these exhibits,
17:01
or installations that are getting a deeper connection or pina to this place.
17:07
We also get a deeper feeling, you know, to this place and these wahi pana.
17:12
And because of that
17:13
and because of how exciting and intimate we get to be with this island,
17:17
sharing it with others and hoping they have these same intimacies
17:21
helps us to grow and acknowledge all the ways that we relate to Hawai'i,
17:27
but also ensures that people know the stakes,
17:31
and confront
17:32
all of these kinds of histories that are ongoing and ensuring
17:36
that these stories have lives beyond just, an archive or a newspaper article
17:42
or that one auntie and uncle or it's all of these are very important
17:46
for giving these more also and wahi
17:50
pon, renewed energy and renewed life.
17:53
It really happens to the people.
17:55
And because the people need
17:56
to be able to share these stories, you need to be able to give these visions
18:00
for their experiences and their intimacies to these stories.
18:04
And the more people we have that are sharing these stories,
18:07
learning these stories, making art, the better.
18:10
The trouble is, when we need to make trouble in it.
18:15
Believe me, I understand you're getting your PhD. Yes.
18:17
What do you hope to do with that?
18:19
Oh, that's a good question.
18:20
I think I think about that every single day.
18:22
Like, what am I doing?
18:23
What am I trying to do with this?
18:26
No, I you know, I think.
18:29
Part of my PhD journey has been also about learning how
18:31
to interact with community and to be in community as well.
18:35
It's something they don't teach you there.
18:37
But I think that getting working toward
18:40
my PhD has sort of catapulted me into these spaces, right?
18:44
Through research, oral histories, just community events that,
18:49
you know, that my, the skills that I've learned through
18:53
academia have helped me then share that with community as well.
18:58
So I hope that that won't stop that.
19:01
I'll just continue to work with community and for community.
19:05
The PhD is it's it's, it's a title,
19:08
and, you know, it's well earned when people get them, of course.
19:12
But it's not, it's not going to be the sort of the,
19:16
the defining thing for my life.
19:18
I would say I don't think it's going to be the thing that I'm going to just float
19:23
through academia, and just be an academic for the rest of my life.
19:27
I think, I'm really going to try and use it
19:29
to better, our community and those that I, that I love and,
19:33
and hold dear to my heart, which is all of you listening.
19:37
Yeah.
19:38
Well said.
19:39
And speaking of it, it really is how you use it.
19:42
Can we not, you know, when we look at education and studies,
19:45
I read that you're also a video game designer and composer.
19:49
So you took your skills and you use it pretty.
19:52
I mean, just tell me more about that.
19:53
How does how does that happen? How does that work?
19:56
Maybe I'll start a little
19:57
bit back and time about why I do what I do.
20:00
Like, really like in maybe the origin story.
20:03
Okay.
20:03
When I was a kid and I was in the, cool system, so I went to look like a Ponyo.
20:10
I know, I know, an immersion school in the back of Palau, which is watered
20:14
by a lot of people's stories, but also,
20:17
that were really easily for rain.
20:20
And so when I was growing up, I'd.
20:22
I didn't know a lick of English.
20:24
I couldn't read English.
20:26
I used to order food when I had to in English,
20:30
but I didn't know what I was saying.
20:32
Right? Like I didn't know how to order French fries.
20:34
That jack in the box is just.
20:36
Mom, what is this thing called? You know,
20:39
but when I was that
20:40
young, I actually started to play games because my mom was into video games.
20:45
And so I started playing Pokemon Blue, in like 96,
20:50
and I would play for like an hour or two,
20:53
and then I would,
20:56
have to restart every time,
20:58
because at that time I didn't know how to save.
21:02
And so every time I had to restart, I was just like, man,
21:04
I wish I could just play this and all.
21:06
Like, I wish I could just do this and Hawaiian language.
21:10
I wish I could do xyzzy in Hawaiian language because the prompts
21:14
you couldn't read, I couldn't read any of it. Yeah.
21:16
So I was just whatever looked pretty.
21:18
I would do, and I would battle on Pokemon, and then I literally
21:22
would just figuring out by button mashing whatever would happen.
21:25
And so because of that, not really grew my interest
21:28
in trying to see Hawaiian language in a lot of different spaces that it
21:33
and imagining where it could be beyond what's been accepted at that time.
21:38
And so,
21:38
that was really like the inspiration for a lot of the things I do currently.
21:42
But I'm really fortunate to have been a student and been raised
21:47
by my, in part by my great grandma, who did a lot just left being Hawaiian.
21:55
But even as an emerging student, you experience a lot of things,
21:58
are different from other spaces in the education system.
22:02
So when I was young, sudden rush used to come to art school
22:06
and do, like, poetry lessons and how to write a song, like a rap song.
22:11
And for me as, like a young kid, I was like, oh, I can do that
22:14
with Hawaiian language.
22:15
Like I can do a rap song in Hawaiian,
22:17
or I definitely going to see what else I can do and all Aloha my ear.
22:21
And so.
22:23
From there.
22:23
I just kind of held on to that idea and jam.
22:27
But I always wanted to be an educator.
22:30
Because I looked up to all my full moon
22:32
from California because they're so active in community.
22:36
Like we went to the state to contest the state.
22:38
When bills are being passed, they would ensure that, elders from
22:43
our monolayer would come to our school and help teach us life skills.
22:48
And how about you?
22:49
Like Hawaiian cultural practices?
22:52
We learned how to feed ourselves.
22:54
We learned how to not flirt in Hawaiian.
22:58
We learned how to fare in Hawaiian.
22:59
Just like things you don't think that are important?
23:02
In language, when you're learning
23:05
a language, both are super important and are super impactful.
23:08
It really helped shape and carve.
23:09
Who and what I wanted to do when I grew up.
23:13
And so I just held on to that idea of being an educator
23:17
and finding anywhere that I can to educate folks.
23:20
And so that evolved into me doing, yeah, a couple of video games
23:26
and all of Hawaii is 3D printing and 3D design,
23:30
through Hawaiian images.
23:35
Obviously researching and participating
23:37
in archival research, writing, rap music and all that.
23:42
Hawaii, working with multiple streetwear designers
23:47
and designers, working with a lot of folks
23:50
to string a lot of stories through Instagram.
23:54
Even when I was younger and like when I was like 21, I was already like,
23:58
oh, I want to make sure people can learn these stories that I'm learning,
24:01
because it would be so cool if everyone knew this story.
24:04
Like, imagine everybody knowing this story of unlikely law.
24:08
It's amazing.
24:08
Chief Grant, like if everyone learned about these qualities of a good chief,
24:12
what it means to be a good leader growing up,
24:14
they might embody that rather than trying to latch on to like, a Western idea of
24:19
what a good leader is and that may help us find new ideas and new connections
24:24
to people in our place, and really focusing on that place element,
24:29
being part of the
24:29
people, being part of the people that raised us.
24:32
And so all of that to say,
24:36
I give respect
24:39
to like, my mom, my grandma and my great grandma, the matriarchs in my family
24:44
who really shaped my education, but also the matriarchs at where my teachers,
24:50
kick off when you honor anywhere, as they're amazing educators
24:54
and they continue to be amazing educators and give so much of themselves
24:59
to not just the students in the area, but the wider public.
25:04
So support emerging schools.
25:07
If you can.
25:08
Yeah, there's a lot of really
25:10
great troublemakers that come out, the emergence of some,
25:15
thank you both for your time.
25:16
Is there anything that we missed?
25:17
Or any final words?
25:19
If you want to learn more about
25:21
the partner and the kinds of work that you know is being done right
25:25
now, you can go to over here on A.com also wahi pana on Instagram as well.
25:29
And just follow along.
25:31
Come, come to our events, you know, please, when they happen.
25:36
follow us first on Instagram
25:38
and then just keep an eye out for the events that we have.
25:41
Yeah.
25:42
kauwila do you have anything to add to that?
25:45
Also follow Kaiminaauao on Instagram
25:49
seeking, some of these more all along beforehand?
25:51
Look here.
25:54
And really look into all
25:57
the ways that these stories are being shared by the community folks.
26:00
Some of these resources are shared through wahi pana.
26:03
You can look at the folks who are sharing them all along through there.
26:08
Look, in the southern sun,
26:11
in our exhibit, more like wahi partner
26:14
and mount and, in the southern sun,
26:18
the mono exhibit and or installation and share.
26:22
You can find,
26:24
you know, ways to connect to people and ways to connect a place through these.
26:27
Mahalo.
26:29
And maybe the last thing for me is
26:32
find a way to make trouble with your friends.
26:35
And make sure you make trouble to ensure these aina and these more
26:39
all all have lives beyond just being held in an archive.
26:43
We can do that together.
26:45
And that's one of the best ways to share a story, is
26:48
to find other people who are trying to share these stories.
26:51
I think I want to follow that up with always.
26:54
Care for the wahine in your family, particularly the, Cooper
26:58
in the way he name?
26:58
Because a lot of what
27:00
the foundational skills that we have, the Hawai'i that we have
27:04
as researchers came from our kupuna, wahine, and historically,
27:08
in our low to kupuna way, they are the storytellers and keepers.
27:12
So always honor the, the powerful wahine in your family.
27:16
And that's all I have to say.
27:19
Period.
27:20
Well, again, thank you both for your time.
27:21
Thank you.
27:23
And again, Wahi partner runs through 2028 to learn more is quickly just mentioned.
27:27
You can head to what you want A.com.
27:29
Another cool way to celebrate phase three is by purchasing a limited edition
27:33
t shirt.
27:34
All proceeds directly benefit the La Hui Foundation,
27:37
helping communities to recover from the Corona Little Storms.
27:40
These shirts can be found
27:40
online of all you find A.com or here at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki.
27:44
Mahalo again to Uncle Wheeler for their time and knowledge.
27:47
Mahalo to all of you for listening.
27:49
And until next time. Hello. Hello, welcome.