Shangri La Museum

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8x8: Source Exhibition

January 13, 2024 - June 1, 2024

The Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design, Honolulu, Hawaii

“Pilina” by Abigail Romanchak, Woodblock, Sekishu Paper, Ko (Sugarcane) Ash, Alae, Etching Ink, Graphite Powder, Shellac

A spectacular exhibition of Hawai‘i artists responding to the theme of "source" at Shangri La.

This fourth installment of 8x8 brings together eight visual artists and eight performing artists based in Hawaiʻi to create new work inspired by their encounters with Shangri La. Sparking a generative force to this year’s exhibition, the theme “source” has been interpreted by these 16 artists to produce commentaries on topics ranging from sustainability and ancestry to rising and return.

8x8: Source Artists
Sean-Joseph Takeo Kahāokalani Choo | Ryan Kamakakēhau Fernandez | Paula Fuga | Noah Harders | Nick Kurosawa | Lehuauakea | Kenny WaiFu Lui | Punahele | Noʻu Revilla | Abigail Romanchak | Amelia Samari | Michelle Schwengel-Regala | David Shepard | Laritza Labouche (T.J. Keanu Tario) | Maikaʻi Tubbs | I Made Widana

“Pilina” exhibited in the Dining Room, Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi

Artist Statement: Abigail Kahilikia Romanchak

Native cultures are jeopardized once they stop speaking to people in present day. The expressive freedom of printmaking allows me to communicate my deep personal feelings about rapidly changing cultural and natural landscapes. After experiencing the recent devastating fires on my home island Maui, I have been thinking more about traditional land tenure and the importance of ecological interdependence in Hawaiʻi. ʻPilinaʻ honors the traditional land divisions, moku of pre-contact Hawaiians. The natural contours of the Hawaiian Islands along with specific resources located within these moku remind us of the importance of Indigenous resource management practices necessary to protect the land and its people. When asked to respond to the theme “source,” “ola i ka wai”— water is life— is what comes to mind for me.