HONOLULU BIENNIAL
2017
Les FILTER FEEDERS, NEVER TURN YOUR BACK TO THE OCEAN, 2017. From the series Local Knowledge Image courtesy of the artists.
MIDDLE OF NOW | HERE
The inaugural Honolulu Biennial 2017 (HB17) showcased the diversity of ideas, art, and culture from the people who live today throughout the places connected by the Pacific Ocean. It included contemporary art from Hawaiʻi, the Pacific Islands, Asia, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. By exhibiting the work of artists from all around this vast region, HB17 shined a spotlight on the collective artistic vision from this important and dynamic Pacific neighborhood.
Fumio Nanjo, Director of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum and 2017 Curatorial Director
Ngahiraka Mason, formerly Indigenous Art, Maori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki and 2017 Curator
Yuki KIHARA, Nose Width with Vernier Caliper, 2015. From the series A Study of a Samoan Savage. Image courtesy of Milford Galleries, Dunedin, and the artist.
The Artists
Vernon Ah Kee, Australia
Sama Alshaibi, USA
Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, Australia/Philippines
Andrew Binkley, Hawaiʻi
Drew Kahu‘āina Broderick, Hawaiʻi/USA
Jane Chang Mi, Hawaiʻi /USA
Kaili Chun, Hawaiʻi
Sean Connelly, Hawaiʻi
Beatrice Glow, USA
Brett Graham, New Zealand
Marques Hanalei Marzan, Hawaiʻi
Choi Jeong Hwa, Korea
Kathy Jetñil Kijiner, Marshall Islands
Mohammad Kazem, U.A.E.
Yuki Kihara, New Zealand/Samoa
Charlton Kūpa‘a Hee, Hawaiʻi
Yayoi Kusama, Japan
Al Lagunero, Hawaiʻi
Alexander Lee, Tahiti
Les Filter Feeders, Hawaiʻi
Mariquita Micki Davis, Guam/USA
Lee Mingwei, Taiwan/USA
Eko Nugroho, Indonesia
Fiona Pardington, New Zealand
Lisa Reihana, New Zealand
Chris Ritson, Hawaiʻi
Michelle L. Schwengel-Regala, Hawaiʻi
Greg Semu, New Zealand/Samoa
teamLab, Japan
John Vea, New Zealand/Tonga
Zhan Wang, China
Lynne Yamamoto, USA
Ken + Julia Yonetani, Japan/Australia
The curators
FUMIO NANJO, CURATORIAL DIRECTOR
Nanjo is the Director of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, a position that he has held since 2006. He served as commissioner of the Japan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1997), commissioner at the Taipei Biennale (1998), member of jury committee of the Turner Prize (1998), co-curator of the 3rd Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (1999), artistic director of the Yokohama Triennale (2001), jury member of the Golden Lion Prize of the Venice Biennale (2005) and artistic director of the Singapore Biennale (2006, 2008).
NGAHIRAKA MASON, CURATOR
She is the former indigenous curator at Auckland Art Gallery (NZ), a writer, educator, historian and trained fine artist. Her career at New Zealand’s oldest and most prestigious art museum began in 1994, where she gathered experience working with European and New Zealand historical, modern and contemporary art, developing the institution’s art collections, acquisitions and commissioning of site specific contemporary art.
HB17 VIDEOS
Art Beyond the Inaugural Honolulu Biennial in Ward Village
Honolulu Biennial 2017: Indigenous Art
Honolulu Biennial 2017: Navigation in the Arts
Honolulu Biennial 2017: Yayoi Kusama's I'm Here, but Nothing
Honolulu Biennial 2017: Graffiti Nature by teamLab
Honolulu Biennial 2017: Middle of Now | Here Recap
All videos courtesy of Ward Village / The Howard Hughes Corporation
Our Recap
A full recap on whom we served, our economic impact, PR value and educational programming.
Learn more about the 2017 artworks
Read the curatorial and academic essays on the honolulu biennial that features writing by: Fumio Nanjo, Ngahiraka Mason, Dr. Kóan Jeff Baysa, Nāpali Aluli Souza and Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer
Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, Crossings Project Another Country, detail view, 2017. Photograph by Christopher Rohrer. Courtesy of the Honolulu Biennial Foundation.
OUR PARTNERS
TITLE AND FOUNDING SPONSOR
Howard Hughes Corporation, Ward Village
FOUNDERS’ CIRCLE
State of Hawai‘i
State Legislature of Hawai‘i
Taiji and Naoko Terasaki Family Foundation
CURATOR’S CIRCLE
Bank of Hawai‘i Foundation
Creative New Zealand
DISTINGUISHED SPONSORS
Hawai‘i Tourism Authority
Korea Foundation
Neiman Marcus
HOSPITALITY SPONSORS
Hawai‘i Prince Hotel Waikiki
The Surfjack Hotel & Swim Club
Halekulani
Creative Partner
Nella Media Group
VALUED SPONSORS
A&E Equipment Rentals, Accel Party Rentals and Design, Air Tahiti Nui, Aēsop, Alert Alarm of Hawaiʻi, Alston, Hunt, Floyd & Ing, Construct, LLC, Eggs 'n Things, Enterprise Holdings, Enterprise Holdings, Events International, Hinano, HonBlue, JMR Construction Corporation, Kelly Ann Brown Foundation, Mori Art Museum, Pro Service Hawaii, Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Art Explorium, Australian Consulate, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, The ARTS at Marks Garage,The Center for Pacific Islands Studies, School of Pacific & Asian Studies at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, City and County of Honolulu, Consulate General of Japan in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, Hawaiʻi Tourism Japan, Hawaiʻi International Film Festival, Hawaiʻi Visitors and Convention Bureau, Honolulu Hale, Honolulu Museum of Art, ʻIolani School, Oʻahu Visitors Convention Bureau, Mayor's Office of Culture & the Arts, Mori by Art + Flea, Nā Mea Hawaiʻi, Pegge Hopper Gallery, Shangri La/Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office, Tauta