The “7 Degrees North: The Arts of Micronesia” exhibit, which is believed to be the first in Honolulu to showcase the works of Hawaii-based, contemporary and traditional artists of Micronesian ancestry, is now on display at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Hamilton Library Bridge Gallery.
The exhibit was curated by Floyd Takeuchi and Margo Vitarelli, and aims to promote understanding of Micronesian culture through art.
“My greatest hope is that people will very simply learn about these people who they see in passing at bus stops, shopping centers, the grocery store, so that they’ll realize that this immigrant population has a very rich cultural heritage,” Takeuchi said.
The idea to promote a deeper understanding of Micronesian culture was born from a prior exhibit he had created called The Micronesians that featured portraits of nine Micronesian women wearing traditional Micronesian skirts who had gone into successful careers such as a marine biologist, diplomat, attorney and CEO , Takeuchi said.
The exhibit became popular as it showcased career paths not always associated with the Micronesian community, said DAC executive director Sandy Pohl.
“That small, little exhibit was so powerful,” Pohl said. “A lot of Micronesian families that came kind of perked up because they took pride in who they are.”
The success of the exhibit inspired the DAC to put together a larger show to continue promoting deeper understandings of Micronesian culture, which led to the creation of 7 Degrees North, Pohl said.
The exhibit debuted at DAC, where it remained through July, Takeuchi said. On Aug. 20, it was put on display at the Hamilton Library Bridge Gallery.
Alongside the pieces by Hawaii-based Micronesian artists, the exhibit also features a borrowed collection of restored works from Hawaii Pacific University as well as Takeuchi’s portrait exhibit of Micronesian women.
Both Takeuchi and Vitarelli grew up in Micronesia, which they said contributed to how and why they curated the exhibit. Vitarelli, who moved with her family from New York to Palau when she was 5, said that growing up in Palau familiarized her with the creatives in the community.
“I was able to locate people easily, quickly and know what they made, how they made it, and contact them,” she said.
Many people in Hawaii don’t understand that Micronesia actually contains many different cultures, some of the most common in the being Chuukese and Marshallese, Vitarelli said. However, her upbringing in Palau familiarized her with the variety of people there, which by extension helped her select a diverse array of art from the country’s different cultures.
Takeuchi, who was born and raised in the Marshall Islands, said his experience gave him a deep appreciation for the people and the culture.
“The Micronesian cultures, by practice are pretty self- effacing,” he said. “They’re not out there beating their own drums all the time, and they don’t have a lot of access to the main places that you showcase art in Hawaii.”
Takeuchi hopes he can return the kindness that the Micronesian community showed him and his family during his youth by showcasing the best of its culture to the Hawaii community.
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Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
