Upcoming Event: ʻOnipaʻa: Imagined Futures

We stand in the present, with the past before us, known and visible, but the future behind, hidden and unseen. In the last ʻOnipaʻa event of the Spring 2018 Semester, we have asked four different Native Hawaiian thinkers to come together and discuss what futures they may imagine waiting behind us. Coming from art, education, political science, and Hawaiian Studies, the four each bring distinct viewpoints, but each is rooted in an understanding of the Native Hawaiian past as a potential guide, or set of guides, into those futures. Come and join us for a discussion of imagined futures and the pathways we might travel to arrive at them. Featuring Page Chang, Kahele Dukelow, Solomon Enos, and Kaleikoa Kaeo.

April 20th, 4:00 PM, B-157.

Page Chang is Native Hawaiian, but was born and raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.. When she moved to the islands 24 years ago she was passionate about learning Hawaiian cultural practices. Page is a teacher, painter, and Kapa maker. She loves experimenting with Wauke and other natural, native materials. She produces pieces from paintings to textiles to plastics, incorporating traditional Hawaiian and modern motifs. Recently receiving the Award of Excellence at the “Annual Hawaiʻi Craftsmen Juried Exhibit” for a Kapa malo, was great motivation for Page to continue to move forward in her practice. She looks to the ʻāina and the renewable resource found here in Hawaiʻi as a means of solving the ecological and social emergencies we’re facing locally and as a global community. Some of her kapa is currently being featured on the 2nd floor of the library in the display case and in the exhibit space.

Kahele Dukelow is an Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaiʻi-Maui College. She has been a long-time leader in understanding and expanding the role of indigenous knowledge and education within both Hawaiʻi’s public school system and within the University of Hawaiʻi. She is also a leader in community efforts to end the construction of telescopes on Haleakalā and is a prominent member of the group Kakoʻo Haleakalā. She was born and raised on Maui.

Solomon Robert Nui Enos is a Native Hawaiian artist, educator, illustrator, and visionary. Born and raised in Makaha Valley (Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi), Solomon hails from the well-known Enos ‘ohana. His recent work reveals an extraordinary talent, adept at artistic expression in a wide variety of media including oil paintings, book illustrations, outdoor murals (both painted and in glass mosaic), and mixed-media sculptures. His work touches on themes of ancestry and identity, the human relationship with the earth, and the future of Hawaiʻi), its people, and its resources.

Kaleikoa Kaʻeo is an Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaiʻi-Maui College. He is well known for his synthesis of indigenous and non-indigenous political science, both in the theorizing of contemporary Hawaiian issues and in his activism. His activism has increased the visibility of efforts to protect Mauna Kea and Haleakalā and the legal role of ʻŌlelo, Hawaiʻi within various state bureaucracies. He was born and raised on Maui.