Jasper Wong, the primary organizer of Pow Wow, a live artists’ exhibition and happening Saturday at the Fresh Cafe, is an artist himself as well as a designer and art gallery operator.

He’s also dog-tired. The Kalani High graduate, who grew up in Hawaii Kai and now runs a Hong Kong gallery, has been working a string of long days into nights putting details together for the Honolulu event.

Pow Wow is bringing a roster of international contemporary artists to Honolulu to create art on the spot inside the reclaimed warehouse adjoining Fresh Cafe. The process will be open to the public starting Wednesday.

On Saturday the works will be unveiled at an event that includes local artists and musicians — a critical mass of "creatives," as Wong calls his clan. This group of artists has brought new life to Honolulu’s cultural landscape, with an active live-music scene and a network of collaborators and events that are drawing attention from beyond Hawaii’s shores.

International artists participating in the event include 123Klan (France/Canada), Jeff Hamada (Canada), Meggs (Australia; one of his pieces is pictured here) and Wu Yue (France), all of whom create vibrant, urban-inspired imagery.

Participating local artists, among whom Wong counts himself, include Prime, Ekundayo and Kamea Hadar.

"People can come in and interact with the artists while they work," Wong said. "No one ever gets a chance to see that. When the show comes around, we finish up the pieces in live art fashion."

Hawaii DJs Eskae, Jules Gayton and Kowai Kowai are signed on, and live music will be performed by Alt/Air. Atlanta rapper and Fool’s Gold musical artist Donnis will perform at an after-party Saturday at NextDoor in Chinatown.

There’s a plan to create a video document of the process, and Wong said Honolulu musicians Aly Ishikuni (Alt/Air) and Ara Laylo (Clones of the Queen) are planning to create an original song for the video.

The event itself is expensive to put on — artists must be flown in from remote locations, and the art that’s being made isn’t for sale.

But support for Pow Wow is coming from like-minded people and entities, including Hypebeast, an "online magazine of fashion and culture," which plans to feature Pow Wow in a story about Hawaii artists.

Wong, as with several of the other participating artists, not only works on canvas, but also in imagery that embellishes shoes and T-shirts. Art and commercial interests intertwine and support each other; it’s a practical approach, and one that brings artists’ work to a wider audience with a lower cost of entry.

As for Pow Wow, a limited-edition collection of In4mation T-shirts and Incase iPhone cases will be developed by selected participating artists, with graphics based on their Hawaii experiences.

Wong put on a similar event, also called Pow Wow, last year in Hong Kong. For the local show, Fresh Cafe owner Tiffany Tanaka, herself an art school graduate, has been collaborating with Wong to modify the walls and extend an upper level of the warehouse space to accommodate more art.

"We’re doing everything to make this place a hub for creativity," Wong said.

Find more about Jasper Wong and his Hong Kong gallery, Above Second, at www.jasperwong.net and blog.above-second.com.