Hawaii
New exhibition at Shangri La brings Hawaii perspectives to Islamic art collection
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A new exhibition opening Saturday brings modern Hawaiian art into the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art.
“8×8: Source” highlights the connections between seemingly different cultures.
One of the pieces is a gold warrior mask and outfit made of dried palm leaves standing amid a backdrop of centuries-old tiles handmade in Iran.
This is the fourth year of the exhibition, which is named for the eight visual artists and eight performing artists invited to create and display new work inspired by their encounters with Shangri La.
The works are “kind of woven into our historic collection, just like you see this piece behind me here by Noah Harders. It looks like it belongs here and it’s been here the whole time. But this is a brand new piece that was created by this amazing Maui based artist and his interpretation of the space,” said Navid Najafi, Shangri La’s associate curator of programs and social practice.
“We have amazing artists like Paula Fuga, Nick Kurosawa, Kenny Liu, have just a array of amazing Hawaii based artists,” he said.
Blending new with old — Doris Duke’s former estate attracts visitors from across the world for its beautiful architecture, views and extensive collection of Islamic art — some she purchased and brought to Hawaii, others she commissioned based on designs of historic places in Morocco, Iran and India.
“A lot of what you see represented in Islamic art is also representations of nature, really, artists trying to capture the beauty and the perfection of nature,” Najafi said. “A lot of our Hawaii based artists, and especially native Hawaiian artists do that as well, representing the beauty and perfection of nature, and also the complicated histories and legacies of a place like Hawaii, and also museums.”
“These are colonial legacies that we all inherit. And really, it’s up to us in terms of what we’re going to do with them now and how we tell these stories, to inspire each other, to inform each other and also to move forward and try to right, you know, if we can always right the wrongs of the past, but we can address them, we could be honest about them. And we can carve or create a new future together.”
Najafi says the museum often sparks debate over how Duke — a non-Muslim — acquired and kept pieces of religious significance to Muslims and the countries from which they came.
A colonial legacy Hawaiians can relate to — with artists sharing the story of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s overthrow and the sovereignty movement.
“You see this movement, sort of globally of decolonizing spaces and decolonizing museums,” he said.
8×8 is part of that — showing Shangri La is more than just a beautiful place — but also a conduit for change.
“There’s so many stories within these pieces, not only of the cultures that are represented here, but the legacies of how they arrived at a place like this, right. So I think these are all ripe for conversations for critique for dialogue, and for artists to interpret into their works,” Najafi said.
The exhibition opens Jan. 13. The public can view pictures and videos of the art works online.
For tickets, visit honolulumuseum.org/shangri-la.
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