HONOLULU (KHON2) -- It's an exhibit covering 2,000 years of surfing history, celebrating the rich cultural heritage and legacy of Heʻe Nalu, which you can experience here in Honolulu.
Wake Up 2Day's Chris Latronic visited Native Books & the Manini Gallery to learn more about the historic exhibit to meet up with Allison Benz of Native Books and Johnny Friere, Curator and Director of Manini Gallery.
In response to the 2024 Summer Olympic surfing events scheduled to take place in Tahiti, the ancestral homeland of Kānaka ʻŌiwi and in time for the gathering of Pacifica artists and cultural partitioners at the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture, or FestPAC, on Oʻahu.
Kuaʻaina partnered with Hawaiʻi-based Kānaka curators and arts organizations from Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi island and Maui with the plan to present smaller curated iterations of the larger exhibit "Heʻe Nalu: The Art & Legacy of Hawaiian Surfing" that was on exhibit at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Ariz. in 2023.
The exhibit covered 2,000 years of surfing history and from the earliest stories of surf deities to contemporary works of art and surfing innovations through the lends of thirteen modern Kānaka ʻŌiwi creatives and cultural practitioners to provide a cyclical narrative rooted in culture while addressing the complicated relationship that surfing's indigenous people have with the western dominated billion-dollar surf industry today.
These smaller exhibits will celebrate and uplift the rich cultural heritage and legacy of Heʻe Nalu.