“In a time of great change, the intention of the Hawai‘i Triennial is to off er reflection on recent histories throughout the Asia-Pacific and focus on illuminating artists and works that examine the intricacies of our present,” says Dr. Melissa Chiu, curatorial director for HT22. This year, 43 artists and collectives from Hawai‘i, Asia-Pacific and beyond explore themes of history, place, social activism, environmental change and Indigenous knowledge within the context of Hawaiʻi’s unique location. The 11-week, citywide art exhibition presented by Hawai‘i Contemporary takes place at the following seven venues: Bishop Museum, Foster Botanical Garden, Hawai‘i Theatre Center, Hawai‘i State Art Museum, Iolani Palace, Honolulu Museum of Art and Royal Hawaiian Center. Here, we highlight a few exhibits igniting key cultural conversations across Hawai‘i and around the world. hawaiicontemporary.org
HT22 is curated by curatorial director Dr. Melissa Chiu (center) in collaboration with associate curators Dr. Miwako Tezuka and Drew Kahu‘āina Broderick. PHOTO BY BRANDYN LIU
Tropic Editions’ Tropic Zine Issue 2 (installation view, 2019). PHOTO COURTESY OF DREW BRODERICK
Local publishing imprint Tropic Editions’ pop-up takes place in the cafe of Hawaiʻi State Art Museum. For the duration of the event, artist Marika Emi, a formally trained vegan chef with relationships to local farms and restaurants, will work with the cafe to adjust the menu in further support of the project. Tropic’s cast of frequent collaborators—artists, writers, designers, musicians and performers—fill the walls, tables, display case and surrounding area with an eclectic mix of visuals and voices. tropiceditions.org
The Free Store. PHOTO BY KATE WADE
A project by Double A Projects, aka Athena Robles and Anna Stein, the Free Store is a pop-up shop where visitors can give or get useful things like clothes, books and household items. Situated in capitalist economic centers, the iterative intervention poses the question, “What happens when you remove money from the equation in a commercial context?” doubleaprojects.com
Ai Weiwei limited-edition masks. PHOTO COURTESY OF HAWAI’I CONTEMPORARY
For HT22, three of Ai Weiwei’s iconic trees are grouped together in a trinity and placed on the lawn of Foster Botanical Garden. Transposed into the spatial context of this ironically man-made natural environment, the sculptures function as an imposing reminder of the historical and contemporary settler, imperialist and corporate practices in Hawaiʻi that have upended practices of daily life in the Indigenous Hawaiian population and irreversibly altered the flora and fauna of the land. In keeping with Weiwei’s desire to champion the freedom and democracy of people and places, the installation is an urgent call to action against environmental upheaval and the displacement of communities. Weiwei also collaborated with Hawai‘i Contemporary to create exclusively designed printed face masks that reflect both indigenous and invasive species of flora, fauna and sea life in Hawaiʻi on sale throughout the Triennial. aiweiwei.com
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