Hawaiian art

The Hawaiian archipelago consists of 137 islands in the Pacific Ocean that are far from any other land. Polynesians arrived there one to two thousand years ago, and in 1778 Captain James Cook and his crew became the first Europeans to visit Hawaii (which they called the Sandwich Islands). The art created in these islands may be divided into art existing prior to Cook’s arrival; art produced by recently arrived westerners; and art produced by Hawaiians incorporating western materials and ideas. Public collections of Hawaiian art may be found at the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Bishop Museum (Honolulu), the Hawaii State Art Museum and the University of Göttingen in Germany.

In 1967, Hawaii became the first state in the nation to implement a Percent for Art law. The Art in State Buildings Law established the Art in Public Places Program and designated one percent of the construction costs of new public schools and state buildings for the acquisition of works of art, either by commission or by purchase.

Art existing prior to Cook’s arrival (in 1778) is very similar to the art of other Pacific Islanders. This early art practice includes wood carvings, petroglyphs, kākau (Hawaiian tattooing), kapa (barkcloth; called kapa in Hawaiian, and tapa elsewhere in the Pacific), kapa kilohana (decorated barkcloth), ipu pā wehe (decorated gourds), kāhili (featherwork), lauhala weaving (weaving, plait, or braiding leaves), and leiomano (shark-tooth weapon).^[1] Native Hawaiians had neither metal, nor woven cloth. Production of this art continued after Cook’s arrival. A few craftsmen still produce traditional Hawaiian arts, either to sell to tourists or to preserve native culture.

Some of the first westerners to visit Hawaii were artists—both professional and amateur. Many of the explorers’ ships had professional artists to record their discoveries. These artists sketched and painted Hawaii’s people and landscapes using imported materials and concepts. Night scenes of erupting volcanoes were especially popular, giving rise to The Volcano School.

Artists in this category include:

Artworks produced by Hawaii’s native born and long-term residents incorporating western materials and ideas include paintings on canvas and quilts. They may be distinctly Hawaiian in subject matter or as diverse as their places of origin. Most of the art currently produced in Hawaii falls into this third category.

Notable artists in this category include:

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  19th-century native Hawaiian feather cape (ʻahuʻula), University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
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  Hawaiian Cape, 18th century; pueo feathers tied on netting, Honolulu Museum of Art
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  Ahuliʻi (feather cape), Hawaiian Islands, late 18th–early 19th century, ʻiʻiwi and ʻōʻō, olonā fiber netting, Honolulu Museum of Art
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  Ahu Ula cape with feathers, before 1779, Historisches Museum Bern
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  Lei Hulu (feather lei), Hawaiian Islands, 19th century, ʻiʻiwi, ʻōʻō, and ʻōʻū feathers, Honolulu Museum of Art
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  Hawaiian helm in feathers, before 1779, Historisches Museum Bern
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  Mahiole helm, beginning of the 19th century, Musée du quai Branly, Paris
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  Mahiole helm, beginning of the 19th century, Musée du quai Branly, Paris
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  Two crested helms called "Hellenic style", Museo di Storia Naturale, Florence
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  wooden statue of Kamapuaʻa from the Bailey House Museum
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  Akua Kaʻai (stick image), late 18th-early 19th century, Honolulu Museum of Art
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  Probably the god of canoe carvers, Ethnological Museum of Berlin
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  Kuʻu Hae Aloha (My Beloved Flag) Hawaiian cotton quilt from Maui, c. 1890s, Mission Houses Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii
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  Na Kihapai Nani Lua ʻOle O Edena a Me Elenale (The Beautiful Unequaled Gardens of Eden and of Elenale), Hawaiian cotton quilt, before 1918, Honolulu Museum of Art
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  Hawaiian kapa, 18th century, Cook-Foster Collection at University of Göttingen, Germany
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  Hawaiian kapa, 18th century, Cook-Foster Collection at University of Göttingen, Germany
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  Kapa kilohana (bark cloth), Hawaii, 19th century, Honolulu Museum of Art
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  Lei niho palaoa (Hawaiian neck ornament), 19th century, carved sperm whale tooth, braided human hair, olonā cordage, Honolulu Museum of Art
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  Tattooing, Sandwich Islands by Jacques Arago, Honolulu Museum of Art
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  Petroglyph from the Puako Petroglyph Archaeological District
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  Petroglyph from the Puako Petroglyph Archaeological District

• Honolulu Museum of Art
• Bishop Museum
• Kapa Hawaii(The Art of Native Hawaiian Kapa)
• Cook-Foster Collection at University in Göttingen, Germany
• Traditional Hawaiian Tattoos and Arts
• Kapa Connection Archived 2008-07-25 at the Wayback Machine
• Hawaii’s Percent for Art law