Imagined Futures • A student exhibition

OPENING Reception • MARCH 12, 1pm–3pm
On view • MARCH 12–26, 2022
Kapolei Hale, 1000 Ulu'ōhi'a Street, Kapolei, Hawai'i 96707

Imagined Futures invites students from West O‘ahu to present artwork around the idea of looking at history to heal the past and envision pathways forward. Specifically, the project encourages students to imagine how the decommissioned military bunkers at Pu‘uokapolei—a culturally significant place in the ahupua‘a of Honouliuli—could be fully realized as a place for community and contemporary art.

Imagined Futures is organized by Hawai‘i Contemporary, on the occasion of Hawai‘i Triennial 2022, in collaborative partnership with Ulu A‘e Learning Center, DreamHouse ‘Ewa Beach, Kapolei High School, and UH West O‘ahu (UHWO) Academy of Creative Media.

This project is made possible, in part, by the Mayor’s Office of Culture & the Arts, Hawai‘i Arts Alliance, MakeVisible, and WLS Spencer Foundation.

Opening Reception: Join us for an in-person reception with student presentations on Saturday, March 12, 1pm–3pm at Kapolei Hale (1000 Ulu'ōhi'a Street, Kapolei, Hawai'i 96707).

In addition to the exhibit, Ulu A‘e Learning Center is offering in-person tours centered around the decommissioned military bunkers at Pu‘uokapolei (an unrealized site of exhibition for Hawai‘i Triennial 2022). Tours are free with registration. Available in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i.

Honouliuli 'Āina Ho'ohuli, the online exhibit made by Dr. Christy Mello, UHWO Associate Professor of Applied Cultural Anthropology and UHWO students, is part of the exhibition of Imagined Futures. Honouliuli 'Āina Ho'ohuli allows visitors the opportunity to interact and dive deeper into the history of Honouliuli as an ahupua'a (one of many of Hawai'i’s land and water divisions). Throughout the exhibit, visitors will discover historical maps, a story map project, a news clip video, research documents, artwork, newspaper excerpts, and photographs visualizing Honouliuli over the course of time as a changing landscape. The mo'olelo (stories of place) of Hawai'i’s first people, shared here, serve as a starting point as our exhibit illustrates land and water use over time through the plantation era, military occupation, and into today. Development continues today though so do efforts to restore the 'āina (land) and to create harmony and balance, lōkahi. 

MakeVisible is also currently accepting submissions for the student virtual gallery Imagined Futures: Pu‘uokapolei, a virtual gallery designed to foster young visions of the future of Pu‘uokapolei. Join this call to submit original visual and/or written works to imagine what this future could look like. The virtual gallery welcomes projects based in art, storytelling, sustainability, culture, architecture, agriculture, etc. until April 30th, 2022.