A cache of costume jewelry from Rajasthan will be at the World Art Bazaar. You’ll find earrings and earrings-and-necklace sets that make stunning statements for a pittance. This decolletage dazzler looks like a million, but will set you back only $59. The luxe brocade silk scarf, also from India, is available in The Academy Shop now ($129). They’re going fast.
World Art Bazaar
Academy Art Center at Linekona, Victoria Street between Beretania and Young streets
Nov 28-Dec 13; Tues-Sat 10am-4:30pm, Sun 11am-5pm
Don’t say that Hawaii’s teachers aren’t committed to their jobs. The flash flood warnings and downpour of rain last week Saturday weren’t enough to prevent several teachers from leaving the comfort of their beds to attend a half-day workshop in the Academy’s Museum Learning Center. The workshop, made possible by a grant from the Hawaii Council for the Humanities, was intended to introduce teachers to “All About Textiles,” the latest exhibition in Interactive Gallery 31, and to encourage them to bring their classes on the accompanying school tour. continue reading "‘All About Textiles’ Teacher Workshop"
Fellow kapa maker Dalani Tanahi, who practices her art in Makaha, on the exhibition He Ho’ala Ana/An Awakening: Kapa by Marie McDonald. On view through Jan. 18, 2009. The work has to be seen to be believed. As one person said at the opening “I get chicken skin.”
Our amazing staff photographer Shuzo Uemoto just finished processing his shots from the He Ho’ala Ana / An Awakening opening last week. We share them here with you. It was an enchanting evening, with people there to share their aloha and reverence for master kapa and lei maker Marie McDonald. Enjoy a gallery of photos after the jump. continue reading "He Ho’ala Ana opening II"
Master kapa maker Marie McDonald’s exhibition, “He Ho’ala Ana / An Awakening: Kapa by Marie McDonald” opened Wednesday night at the Academy with an exceptional turn out. She was back Thursday morning as Textile Collection Manager Sara Oka shared the Academy’s kapa collection with her and other kapa makers. Oka laid out the large, fragile squares of kapa on a big viewing table, and as she presented each piece, mostly kapa moe (traditional Hawaiian bed coverings), the group buzzed, discussing how each piece may have been created. As the group huddled over the textile treasures, McDonald compared her own method with the pieces. She talked about how varying the strength of her kapa beating creates designs.
A who’s who of kapa and lei makers gathered in the Honolulu Academy of Arts’ Banyan Court last night to honor master kapa artist Marie McDonald. Mary Sakamoto danced hula to Pua Case’s beautiful oli “Maika‘i ke anui Waimea”—both of them wearing garments made of McDonald’s kapa. Lei maker Vivian “Happy” Tamanaha, who volunteers at the Academy, was the seed of this extraordinary project. She introduced Academy Textile Collection Manager Sara Oka to McDonald. And now Gallery 22 is filled with these amazing works, presented artfully by Installation Designer Larry Maruya. In one corner a mosaic of large kapa is backlit so that you can see the painstakingly made intricate “memory of her beaters,” as Oka poetically describes McDonald’s highly textured watermarks. At 82, she is a master at this rigorous art. McDonald was buried in the most fragrant and beautiful lei, made by her skilled lei-making friends. Here she is giving opening remarks at the event.
