New gallery shop opened in Lihu’e on Kaua’i, Hawai’i. It is a home for the Kapa Revival Project, a place to hold classes and workshops in the Hawaiian arts, especially kapa arts, and a place to see kapa on display and purchase tools for kapa making. There are also a number of beautiful island-style items for sale. Right now there are Christmas ornaments made with kapa and stamped with ‘ohe kapala, bamboo stamps in traditional Hawaiian motifs.
Makahiki is one of the most important seasons in the Hawaiian calendar. Coinciding with the rising of Makaliʻi (the Pleiades constellation) in the night sky, this four-month event marks the journey of the akua Lono around the Hawaiian Islands — bringing peace, harvest, and fertility. In past generations, it was a time for the people to rest from working the land and to refrain from war.During Makahiki, an embodiment of Lono, called an akua loa or Lonomakua, is adorned with his kino lau (body forms). Customarily, these include pala ferns (Marattia douglasii) and the pelts of native albatrosses, such as kaʻupu (Phoebastria nigripes) or mōlī (Phoebastria immutabilis). Alongside the black and white albatross feathers, white kapa banners are draped over the akua loa, since these colors are associated with Lono.Here at Bishop Museum, we recognize Makahiki and the winter months of our year with the display seen in the photo. To the left stands an image of Kū, ceremonially wrapped to mark the shift between Kau (or Kauwela), the dry season of Kū, and Hoʻoilo, the rainy season of Lono. At the center of the display, adorned with symbolic greenery and feather lei appropriate for an island circuit, is a kiʻi understood to be the only remaining akua loa to have been used in Makahiki circuits made by high chiefs in the 1800s, most likely on Hawaiʻi Island.Visit Bishop Museum today to see this special symbol of Hawaiian culture, and hundreds of other cultural items and natural history specimens on display in our galleries.“The Signs of Makahiki” is written by Marques Hanalei Marzan, Miles Thomas, and Emma Bornstein. Read the full story and explore more.
Drawing of Lonomakua by Joseph Feher, Bishop Museum Archives. SCP 54161.Bishop Museum is the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
The onset of this new year makes my heart feel glad and appreciative. I am thankful for my ‘ohana (family). They continuously help me with the actual work of making my mea kapa.
This new year my kuleana (responsibility) will continue to involve haumana (students) in kapa-making. We are building a mala garden that will feature these kapa plants: wauke, noni, kukui,‘olena, ‘uki’uki, ma’o, and ilie’e….
I was awarded the David Boynton Educational Grant. This is a local grant that was established and named in honor of the late David Boynton. I am so grateful for these funds. We will be purchasing the garden tools and supplies we need for the Kapa Garden Project! Mahalos
Te Papa Tongarewa Museum in Aotearoa, New Zealand has an incredible collection of Pacific tapa on exhibit. The exhibition is on for 2 more days on site. Check out their awesome online tapa gallery by clicking on the link below!
kapa kulture 