Kumu hula Vicky Holt Takamine’s proposal to develop new works in honor of Queen Liliuokalani to be performed in 2017, the 100th-year anniversary of the monarch’s death, is among the projects receiving funding from the new Native Hawaiian Artist Fellowships program.
Takamine was one of 12 recipients chosen by the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, a national organization based in Portland, Ore. The grants received support from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Leonard and Rose Freeman Family Fund via the Hawaii Community Foundation.
More than 150 Hawaiian artists, some based locally and some on the mainland, applied for the grants, which total $120,000.
The money will be used for specific projects. Takamine will be developing her project in collaboration with other kumu hula and storytellers.
The other recipients are:
» Kumu hula Robert Cazimero, to bring his 2015 Merrie Monarch Festival-winning dance, "Ka ‘Aha Kilu Le ‘ale‘a I Ka‘akopu," to a Japanese festival in September. The performance is based on the tale of Pele.
» Kaui Kanaka‘ole, a Halau o Kekuhi dancer, to undertake a mentorship as part of her training to become a kumu hula. The project includes publishing a book on the Hawaiian creative process.
» Singer-songwriter Robi Kahakalau, to create a collection of music and curriculum to teach Hawaiian preschoolers language and heritage through music.
» Kaumakaiwa Kanaka‘ole, a recording artist and kumu hula, to create a series of dance presentations based on Pele rituals from the ancient Malaehaahoa text for a stage presentation in 2016.
» Songwriter Liko Martin, to continue work on "The Song of the Sandwich Islands," a two-hour rock opera about the Native Hawaiian Renaissance movement, as well as on a recording of family compositions featuring his mother Marion Shim, Andy Cummings and Gabby Pahinui.
» Printmaker Abigail Romanchak, to create a series of large-scale woodblock prints addressing climate change and rising sea levels due to global warming and how they will affect Hawaii, to be exhibited locally and in Germany in 2016.
» Visual artist Maika‘i Tubbs, known for using reclaimed, recycled and found materials, to collaborate with communities in Hawaii to clear the coastline of an estimated 2,000 pounds of waste for use in artwork addressing the challenge of creating sustainable coastal environments, to be exhibited in 2016.
» Glass sculptor Bernice Akamine, to complete "Kalo," an installation of 79 plants made of stone and newsprint honoring Liliuokalani, with each plant featuring handwritten renditions of each island’s ahupuaa on one side and copies of the hundreds of signed petitions against the U.S. annexation of Hawaii on the other.
» Fiber artist Marques Marzan, cultural resources specialist for Bishop Museum, to revive the lost art of creating peahi, the Hawaiian chief’s fan, of which there are only 20 known in existence.
» Kapa maker Dalani Tanahy, for her first solo exhibition, which will explore the evolution of kapa design from contact to present day, for display in a wearable art show this fall.
» G. Umi Kai, maker of traditional Hawaiian weapons and other traditional artifacts, to launch an apprenticeship program on making Native Hawaiian cultural tools and weaponry and integrating their historical importance into a contemporary context.
