Hawaiian perspectives

If you attended First Friday last week and saw what you thought was a new art gallery at the corner of Nuuanu and Pauahi streets, you'd be disappointed the next time you went by looking for it.

Maoli Arts Month Events For more information, call 847-3511 or visit maoliartsmonth.org » Saturday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Keiki Art Day, Hawaii State Art Museum; and Native Hawaiian Street Festival on Nuuanu Avenue; free. » May 19: Wearable Art Show, 5 to 9 p.m., Hawaii State Art Museum » May 26, 27: Native Hawaiian Arts Market, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Bishop Museum » May 29: "reVerses," featuring Native poets, 8 to 10 p.m., Bishop Museum; $5

The usually empty space was a one-time venue for the "Homeless Maoli Artists Gallery," which is exhibiting work by a variety of Native Hawaiian artists in commemmoration of Maoli Arts Month (MAMo), which features exhibits and events in Honolulu to celebrate Hawaiian culture.

MAMo organizer Daniel Anthony says the exhibit was intended to be without a permanent venue, and the gallery will travel to various MAMo events.

"It's meant to create awareness of where the (Hawaiian) community is at," he says.

And Anthony doesn't mean just the literal state of homeless Native Hawaiians. "It's about the displacment of Native artists," he says.

Anthony explains that he's had conversations with prominent members of the local art community who don't realize there's a distinction between art from Hawaii and Native Hawaiian art. MAMo, he says, "fills that crucial link" of what's been missing in the Hawaii art scene.

Puni Kukahiko, a Native artist, says she's recently spent much of her time organizing regular venues for Hawaiian artists.

"In order to create a resistence against the typical hyper-commercial artwork made mostly by non-Hawaiians that image Hawaiians and Hawaiian land in a romantic way, I feel it is important for Hawaiian artists to project our own views through our own work," Kukahiko says.

She calls the artwork in MAMo "exciting and fresh, but steeped in culture and tradition."

"The artists themselves span generations," Kukahiko says. "It's exciting to me to see the youngest students exhibiting with really seasoned artists, and I feel it gives viewers a more honest glimpse into the complexities that we face as Hawaiians."

Hawaiian art at the United Nations

Artwork by Native Hawaiian artists will be part of an exhibit opening Friday at the United Nations.

"In Celebration of Indigenous Peoples," featuring works from around the globe, will be on display at the U.N. visitors lobby through June 17.

Maile Andrade, Imaikalani Kalahele, Solomon Enos, Maika'i Tubbs, Puni Kukahiko, Abigail Romanchak and Carl F.K. Pao are among the 11 isle artists included in the show.