Honolulu Biennial Foundation Announces Program: Island Hopping
Launching this fall, Island Hopping will bring select works from Honolulu Biennial 2017 to Neighbor Islands
Honolulu, HI - September X, 2017 Honolulu Biennial Foundation (HBF) announces their new, neighbor island programming initiative, Island Hopping, which will bring select artworks from Honolulu Biennial 2017 (HB17) to the Neighbor Islands this fall. The goal of Island Hopping is to share with a broader audience contemporary artworks from the cultures and continents linked by the Pacific Ocean which were exhibited in HB17.
“We’re very excited to be able to launch Island Hopping this September, bringing four video artworks to Kauaʻi for a special, one-night event with Galerie 103 on September 21st” shares Isabella Ellaheh Hughes, director and co-founder of HBF. “It has always been our goal to serve our neighbor island communities and as we look to the future, HBF will continue to expand upon our neighbor island programming. Later this fall, we will announce other locations of Island Hopping.”
Honolulu Biennial is a new, multi-site, contemporary visual arts festival and the first iteration ran from March 8 – May 8 2017 throughout various sites within Honolulu, which welcomed 97,305 visits over the course of eight weeks and presented 65 public programs. Presented by Honolulu Biennial Foundation (HBF), a nonprofit arts organization and the Howard Hughes Corporation, it was entitled, Middle of Now | Here, with Fumio Nanjo, Director of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, serving as Curatorial Director and Ngahiraka Mason, formerly Indigenous Art, Maori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, as Curator of this inaugural event.
“I think Honolulu Biennial has changed everything for Hawaiʻi,” shares Bruna Stude,” Kauaʻi artist and gallery director of Galerie103. “It [Honolulu Biennial] has made us all feel that what we are doing here in these islands is vitally connected and relevant to the contemporary artistic community beyond our shores and created a highly visible platform for our artists, as well as introduced us to new practices from around the Pacific. I think the launch of Island Hopping is an important step to ensure Kauaʻi and other neighbor islands are served and continuously part of the conversation when we think about Hawaiʻiʻi’s contemporary art scene. Galerie103 is very honored to be the first launch for Island Hopping.”
Hughes will share opening remarks and a short, visual presentation on HB17, followed by a video art screening featuring work by:
SAMA ALSHAIBI
PALESTINE, IRAQ | USA
MARIQUITA MICKI DAVIS
GUAM | USA
KATHY JETÑIL-KIJINER
MARSHALL ISLANDS | USA
JOHN VEA
TONGA | NEW ZEALAND
Complementing the event will be a sneak peek of the recently published HB17 catalogue that will be in stores next month, as well as guidebooks on HB17 for all guests.
The second Honolulu Biennial will run from March - May 2019; the dates and next curatorial team will be announced later this month.
Event details:
Island Hopping: Kauaʻi
September 21, Galerie103
5-7 PM
Kukuiʻula Village Shopping Center
2829 Ala Kalanikaumaka Rd, Koloa, HI 96756
Free and open to the public, but RSVP is suggested as space is limited: [email protected]
About Honolulu Biennial Foundation:
Honolulu Biennial Foundation (HBF) supports the local arts infrastructure with a global outreach by presenting Honolulu Biennial, a visual arts festival and signature event for Hawaiʻi focused on exhibiting artists from the countries and cultures linked by the Pacific Ocean. Throughout the year, HBF serves the local community by presenting educational outreach programs, smaller scale exhibitions and professional development opportunities for the local arts community. To learn more visit: www.honolulubiennial.org
Wasl, meaning “union” in Arabic, is part of Ashaibi’s wider project Silsila, or “link.” Through this body of work, the artist examines connections between different cultures that are under threat of displacement, recognizing shared global issues that need to be addressed collectively. In Wasl, Alshaibi focuses on global mass migrations due to increasing water scarcity and rising ocean levels. These environmental catastrophes link islands and coastal regions around the world. Footage of different connecting bodies of water that surround the Middle East, North Africa, and the Maldives and Hawaiʻi demonstrates that the ocean and climate change fail to adhere to imposed boundaries. Alshaibi establishes that this recognition of geological interconnectedness and human interdependence is essential to addressing issues of climate change.
