A celebration of contemporary art and a dialogue around visual culture, presenting local and global voices to the arts communities in Hawai‘i. Art Summit 2021 is a virtual event presented by Hawai‘i Contemporary with presenting partners Bishop Museum, Hawai‘i State Art Museum, Honolulu Museum of Art, The Friends of Iolani Palace, and Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture and Design.

WED • 10 Feb 2021 | Iolani Palace

10 am Hawai‘i Standard Time | 3 pm EST | 9 am NZST (Feb 11)

Opening + Welcome from Hawai‘i Contemporary at Iolani Palace in Honolulu

Keynote Conversation • Ai Weiwei 
Hawai‘i Triennial 2022 curatorial director Melissa Chiu in conversation with Ai Weiwei about his social activism in his artistic practice, past and present. 

11 am Hawai‘i Standard Time | 4 pm EST | 10 am NZST (Feb 11)

Art Summit dialogues — live!  

A live discussion about Melissa Chiu’s keynote conversation with Ai Weiwei. Led by:
Sara Raza, Associate Director, Hawai‘i Contemporary
Xiaoyu Weng, Associate Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

11:45 am Hawai‘i Standard Time | 4:45 pm EST | 10:45 am NZST (Feb 11)

Hawai‘i Triennial 2022 Curators’ Roundtable
Dr. Melissa Chiu, HT22 Curatorial Director, Dr. Miwako Tezuka, HT22 Associate Curator, and Drew Kahu‘āina Broderick, HT22 Associate Curator, discuss the theme for Hawai‘i Triennial 2022  (HT22): Pacific Century – E Ho‘omau no Moananuiākea 

12:15 pm Hawai‘i Standard Time | 5:15 pm EST | 11:15 am NZST (Feb 11)

Art Summit dialogues — live! 

A live discussion of the Curators’ Roundtable. Led by:
Fumio Nanjo, Curatorial Director, Honolulu Biennial 2017
Nina Tonga, Curator Pacific Art, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa • Curator, Honolulu Biennial 2019
Josh Tengan, Curator, Pu‘uhonua Society, Nā Mea Hawai‘i • Assistant Curator, Honolulu Biennial 2019

1 pm Hawai‘i Standard Time | 6 pm EST | 12 pm NZST (Feb 11)

Talk + Screening • Karrabing Film Collective
Elizabeth A. Povinelli (founding member) shares a visual essay on toxic sovereignties, reclamation, and the stakes of staying connected to ancestral places. 

Screening: The Jealous One (2017) 29:17min / Staying with the Ancestors, Keeping Country Open, and How We Make Karrabing (2020).

THUR • 11 Feb 2021 | BISHOP MUSEUM

10 am Hawai‘i Standard Time | 3 pm EST | 9 am NZST (Feb 12)

Welcome from Hawai‘i Contemporary at Bishop Museum

Keynote Conversation • Homi K. Bhabha 
Scholar, critical theorist, and professor discusses the notion of cultural in-betweenness, social and cultural justice, and narratives of the margins. 

10:45 am Hawai‘i Standard Time | 3:45am pm EST | 9:45 am NZST (Feb 12)

Art Summit dialogues — live! 

A live discussion about Homi K. Bhabha’s keynote conversation. Led by:
Miwako Tezuka, HT22 Associate Curator
Jaimey Hamilton Faris, Associate Professor of Critical Theory and Art History,
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

11:30 am Hawai‘i Standard Time | 4:30 pm EST | 10:30 am NZST (Feb 12)

Artist Conversation • Eating in Public 
A little space outside of the State and capitalist systems: Edible Weeds, Free Stores, and Food Gardens

Eating in Public (Gaye Chan)
Drew Kahu‘āina Broderick, HT22 Associate Curator
Marlene Siu, Art School Exhibitions Manager, Honolulu Museum of Art

12:15 pm Hawai‘i Standard Time | 5:15 pm EST | 11:15 am NZST (Feb 12)

Lecture-Performance • Léuli Eshrāghi 
Artist, curator, academic whose work focuses on visual and spoken languages, embodied knowledges, and ceremonial-political practices situates a ‘Pacific Century’ in Moananuiākea relationality.

1 pm Hawai‘i Standard Time | 6 pm EST | 12 pm NZST (Feb 12)

Artist Conversation • Piliāmo‘o  
Delving into Ē Luku Wale Ē (Devastation Upon Devastation), a multipart project that makes visible the construction of U.S. Interstate H-3 and the accompanying destruction of cultural sites and natural features in Ha‘ikū and North Hālawa valleys on the island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i.

Piliāmo‘o (Kapulani Landgraf and Mark Hamasaki)
Drew Kahu‘āina Broderick, HT22 Associate Curator

FRI • 12 Feb 2021 | HONOLULU MUSEUM OF ART

10 am Hawai‘i Standard Time | 3 pm EST | 9 am NZST (Feb 13)

Welcome Hawai‘i Contemporary at Honolulu Museum of Art 

Keynote Speaker • Theaster Gates  
The artist and social innovator discusses the coalescence of art, craft, architecture, and urban planning in his artistic practice.

10:45 am Hawai‘i Standard Time | 3:45 pm EST | 9:45 am NZST (Feb 13)

Art Summit dialogues — live! 

A live discussion about Melissa Chiu’s keynote conversation with Theaster Gates. Led by:
Hawai‘i Contemporary with
Louise Bernard, Director, Museum of the Obama Presidential Center
Halona Norton-Westbrook, Director & CEO, Honolulu Museum of Art

11:30 am Hawai‘i Standard Time | 4:30 pm EST | 10:30 am NZST (Feb 13)

Artist Conversation • Nā Maka o ka ‘Āina 
Excerpts from more than two decades of documentary filmmaking by Nā Maka o ka ‘Āina (Puhipau and Joan Lander) provide throughlines for a group conversation around the importance of broadcasting stories of intergenerational resistance across the Hawaiian archipelago and abroad. 

Nā Maka o ka Āina (Joan Lander), Documentary Filmmaker
Drew Kahu‘āina Broderick, HT22 Associate Curator
Taylour Chang, Curator, Film and Performance, Honolulu Museum of Art

12:45 pm Hawai‘i Standard Time | 5:45 pm EST | 11:45 am NZST (Feb 13)

Artist Conversation • Mika Tajima 
Discussion on how Tajima’s work in various media interrogates the infrastructures of control from architecture to advanced technology to ancient practices—how these seemingly contradicting approaches to the world are utilized and fully integrated into life under the regime of technocapitalism.

Mika Tajima, Artist
Dr. Miwako Tezuka, HT22 Associate Curator

1:45 pm Hawai‘i Standard Time | 6:45 pm EST | 12:45 pm NZST (Feb 13)

Artist Conversation • ‘Elepaio Press (1976–present)
Amplified poetry and a discussion on the relationships between poetic, cultural, and political expressions in the Hamasaki brothers’ collaborative work in Hawai‘i and Oceania.

‘Elepaio Press (Richard Hamasaki and Mark Hamasaki)
Drew Kahu‘āina Broderick, HT22 Associate Curator

SAT • 13 Feb 2021 | HAWAI‘I STATE ART MUSEUM

‘ohana day

10 am Hawai‘i Standard Time | 3 pm EST | 9 am NZST (Feb 14)

Welcome from Hawai‘i Contemporary at Hawai‘i State Art Museum

Family Workshop 1 • Upcycling with Hannah Shun
Hands-on, all-ages workshop for the whole family that transform recyclables into a fun toy

Creative Objects • Honolulu Theatre for Youth 

Family Workshop 2 • Zine Making with Minny Lee
Hands-on, all-ages workshop for the whole family that use household materials to make your own Zine

Imaginary Journey • Honolulu Theatre for Youth 

11:30 am Hawai‘i Standard Time | 4:30 pm EST | 10:30 am NZST (Feb 14)

In the Kitchen with Hawai‘i Chefs
Kevin Carvalho + Mark “Gooch” Noguchi
Chefs make a family-friendly dish using ta‘ape (an invasive reef fish in Hawai‘i) and talks about the important connection between land, ocean, and food.

12 pm Hawai‘i Standard Time | 5 pm EST | 11 am NZST (Feb 14)

Discussions • Social Justice + Climate Change
Identity, race, social justice, and community organizing in conversation, featuring the voices of young contemporaries in Hawai‘i.

Mari J. Matsuda, Artist + Professor of Law
Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, kiaʻi, artist, educator
Kawika Pegram, Executive Director, Hawai‘i Youth Climate Coalition
Nikkya Taliaferro, Executive Director, Hawai‘i for Black Lives

1:30 pm Hawai‘i Standard Time | 6:30 pm EST | 12:30 pm NZST (Feb 14)

Art Summit dialogues — live! 

Unpacking of the themes discussed. Led by:

Hawai‘i Contemporary with
Akiemi Glenn, Executive Director, The Pōpolo Project
Céline Semaan-Vernon, Founder and Creative Director, Slow Factory Foundation

2:15 pm Hawai‘i Standard Time | 7:15 pm EST | 1:15 pm NZST (Feb 14)

Music Performance • Navid Najafi (illnomadic)
with Ohtoro and featuring Doctabarz, Drifton Limrik, and Punahele

Mahalo, A Hui Hou • Closing
with Hawai‘i Contemporary • Kahu Kordell Kekoa