‘Ha’ art exhibit opens Friday

With the generosity of the Wailoa Center, and the Pa‘i Foundation, 17 Native Hawaiian artists will showcase their artwork in the fourth-annual MAMo (Maoli Arts Month) Gallery.

With the generosity of the Wailoa Center, and the Pa‘i Foundation, 17 Native Hawaiian artists will showcase their artwork in the fourth-annual MAMo (Maoli Arts Month) Gallery.

For the past four years, MAMo (Maoli Arts Month) has included a gallery show in Hilo. This year, the art gallery show will be entitled “Ha,” meaning “fourth,” as this is the fourth consecutive year of the gallery.

“Ha” will cover many different genres and media.

There will be traditional and contemporary artwork on display. There will be artwork as traditional as a lei hulu (a feather lei) to artwork as contemporary as digital photography, and everything in between.

The featured artists are:

• Beau Jack Key

• Nelson Makua

• Kainoa Makua

• Ski Kwiatkowski

• Lehua Waipa Ah Nee

• Lehua and Kilohana Domingo

• Merci Manalili

• Keahi Tomas

• Ka‘ohu O. Seto

• Kanani Kaulukukui

• Jimie Ramos

• Moses Kealamakia

• Momi Greene

• Duncan Ka‘ohuoka‘ala Seto

• Dean Ka‘ahanui

• Bernice Akamine

The grand opening reception will be 5-7 p.m. Friday at the Wailoa Center at 200 Piopio St. There will also be a meet-the-artist reception from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, during Merrie Monarch Festival week.

The gallery is open to the public 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and noon-4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

“Ha” will close Friday, April 25.

Founded by kumu hula Vicky Holt Takamine, the Pa‘i Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of Hawaiian cultural traditions for future generations.

Through the establishment of a cultural center on Oahu to better serve the Hawaiian community, Pa‘i hopes to address and serve the needs of Native Hawaiians and those who make Hawaii their home, said Takamine.