Listening Across Oceans

Listening Across Oceans: The Evolution of Hui Moʻolelo, Lāhainā’s Memorial Project, and Public Art as a Vessel

A public art methodology developed in Maui. County is traveling to New York City, bringing Lāhainā stories, community-led memorial research, and a new musical work by Native Hawaiian artist Leilani Patao into conversation across the Pacific.

The journey of public art on Maui has been rooted in deep listening, community dialogue, and a sustained commitment to sense of place. What began in 2018 as a creative placemaking partnership among the County of Maui, Maui Public Art Corps, and cultural director Kumu Sissy Lake-Farm has developed into a long-term civic framework connecting artists, cultural practitioners, students, residents, and communities across generations and geographic boundaries. That evolution will come together in New York City on September 18, 2026, when the Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā project brings its storytelling methodology, memorial research, animated films, and live music to NYU and The Museum of Modern Art.

The Evolution: Six Stages of Hui Moʻolelo
The New York City gathering represents the latest stage in an intentional progression of public art, storytelling, and community engagement.

1. Hui Moʻolelo: Hui Moʻolelo, meaning a gathering of stories, was developed as an intergenerational story-gathering framework. Community members learn ethical storytelling and story-gathering practices before recording audio talk-stories with elders and intergenerational partners. Excerpts from these recordings become the primary source material for annual public art applications, helping ensure that commissioned public artworks emerge from authentic local narratives, histories, and relationships to place.

2. Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā: Following the devastating wildfires of August 8, 2023, Hui Moʻolelo expanded into a civic framework for recovery, historical truth-telling, and the processing of grief and memory. Working with trusted community partners and Lāhainā residents, the program has gathered intergenerational talk-stories documenting memories of West Maui, its people and places, and visions for its future. These recordings now form an important community archive and a foundation for subsequent public art and memorial research.

3. The Lāhainā Memorial Project: When the County tasked the public art team with leading research and development for a permanent Lāhainā Memorial, Hui Moʻolelo became a central vehicle for listening to community members and gathering the stories that should inform that work. The R&D process has been grounded by Nā Kūpuna o Lāhainā, extensive historical and ethnographic research by Kumu Pono Associates, and conversations with families, cultural practitioners, students, and other community members. The team has also engaged in global benchmarking, including conversations with the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The goal is to establish a memorial process rooted in Lāhainā's own history, cultural protocols, community priorities, and the voices of those most directly connected to the loss.

4. The Lāhainā Think Space: The Lāhainā Think Space was created to make this ongoing research and community dialogue accessible beyond meetings and planning documents. The traveling installation functions as a living laboratory for listening, reflection, and continued dialogue. Piloted at Lahainaluna High School and Queen Kaʻahumanu Center, the Think Space brings together audio archives, films, artwork, written manaʻo, and opportunities for residents and students to consider what a future Lāhainā Memorial might be and what it should provide for generations to come.

5. NYU Collaboration and Diaspora Engagement: Lāhainā's history and community extend well beyond Maui. In February 2026, conversations among the core Maui public art team, NYU Hawaiʻi Club Chair Pua Farm, the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, and the Center for Collaborative Indigenous Research began expanding the Think Space methodology to New York City. The resulting collaboration creates an opportunity for Hawaiʻi students, the Hawaiian diaspora, New York-based partners, and others connected to Lāhainā to participate in the same listening and storytelling process taking place on Maui.

6. Leilani Patao's Participation: The final stage brings the methodology into original performance. Brooklyn-based Native Hawaiian musician Leilani Patao was invited to develop a live musical work from a Lāhainā talk-story recording and perform it as part of the September 18 Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā Film Showcase at The Museum of Modern Art. Leilani's participation demonstrates another dimension of public art: the artist as vessel. The artist selects a community story, listens deeply, and uses their creative practice to carry that story into another form and another place.

Artist as Vessel: Leilani Patao and the 9th Hui Moʻolelo Cohort

When Leilani was invited to participate in the New York City program, the public art team offered them a fast-track option because the performance would take place outside Maui County. The team could not extend grant-funded artist activation opportunities earmarked for Maui County to a New York-based event, and Leilani's participation stretched beyond the standard artist panel selection process. NYU had nominated Leilani for the performance, and rather than simply creating a piece for the New York event, Leilani chose to participate in the deeper Hui Moʻolelo process.

Through a series of sequential-based workshops led by Kumu Sissy Lake-Farm, Leilani learned the methodology and cultural protocols of Hui Moʻolelo, created a self-recorded moʻolelo, gathered an intergenerational talk-story with Kevin Sur (a Kānaka Maoli musician, festival producer, and radio co-host for KEXP known for highlighting global Indigenous voices and music), and participated in deep listening alongside students and community members. Leilani's decision to engage more fully in the Hui Moʻolelo process reflects an approach to public art in which the artist's role is not simply to make an object or performance, but to become a vessel for stories, relationships, memory, and place.

Selecting Rae Kahaialiʻi's Talk-Story

After reviewing the Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā audio archive, Leilani selected a January 29, 2026 talk-story recorded with Lāhainā native Rae Kahaialiʻi and Kelly McHugh White.

Rae is a highly respected member of the Lāhainā community whose work during the recovery has placed her in direct relationship with families, cultural practitioners, and the difficult realities of rebuilding community after the fires. She led the urn recovery initiative, helping families retrieve and care for the cremated remains of loved ones from wildfire debris.

In her talk-story, Rae spoke with unusual clarity about what a future memorial must hold. Her perspective extended beyond individual structures or losses to encompass an entire way of life, emphasizing the need for a place where people can reflect quietly, grieve, heal, and come together across generations, nationalities, and backgrounds.

It was this expansive understanding of community loss and care that resonated with Leilani and became the foundation for her musical interpretation.

Community Consultations: Wisdom That Shaped the Music

Leilani's composition has continued to develop through conversations with Lāhainā community members, cultural practitioners, and musicians. Rather than asking the artist to interpret a story in isolation, the public art team created opportunities for continued dialogue between Leilani and people whose knowledge, experience, and relationships to Lāhainā could inform the work.

• Rae Kahaialiʻi, in a July 22, 2026 consultation, spoke candidly about the unfinished work of recovery and the role that moʻolelo, music, and art can play in healing. She encouraged Leilani to trust their intuition while remaining grounded in identity and kuleana.
• Kamaunu Kahaialiʻi, a cultural practitioner and celebrated musician, spoke with Leilani on July 28 about music's ability to create resonance across differences. He encouraged them to carry forward what they had learned and create music that speaks to the world while remaining grounded in who Hawaiians have always been.
• Amy Hānaialiʻi, the award-winning Hawaiian recording artist, met with Leilani on August 6 and emphasized the ancestral foundation of Hawaiian music. She encouraged Leilani to understand and honor their moʻokūʻauhau while bringing their full heritage into the work.
• Stephen Henderson, a musician who created a multi-movement Hui Moʻolelo work in 2023, met with Leilani on August 28. He reflected on the humility required of artists working in the public realm and the possibilities that emerge when an artist releases control and allows a work to live beyond its creator.

Together, these conversations helped shape not only the music, but the responsibility Leilani carries as an artist interpreting another person's story.

Kumu Sissy Lake-Farm shared “The reason why we led with the story was because we wanted to honor the sense of place. The artist comes and enhances who we are.” Reflecting on the Hui Moʻolelo cohort, she added, “Having our cohort with you folks shines a bright light on our next generation. Our future is so bright we got to wear shades!”

The NYC Program: Three Primary Activities

The culmination of this multi-month collaboration takes place on Friday, September 18, 2026, through three interconnected activities:

1. The 9th Hui Moʻolelo Cohort: The New York cohort brought together students, members of the Hawaiian diaspora, and cultural advisors to practice ethical storytelling and gather intergenerational talk-stories connected to Hawaiʻi and Lāhainā.
2. Panel Discussion | 11:00 AM–12:30 PM: Listening Across Oceans: Story, Memory, and the Making of Memorials. The panel at NYU's 20 Cooper Square will bring together Maui public art and cultural leadership, student delegates, and representatives connected to memorial work, including the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
3. Film Showcase | 6:00–8:00 PM: Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā Film Showcase. The evening program at The Museum of Modern Art's Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2 will feature animated short films based on Hui Moʻolelo stories, including a live musical performance by Leilani Patao.

Become Part of the Next Hui Moʻolelo Cohort

For those attending the New York events, the opportunity to participate does not end on September 18. The next Hui Moʻolelo cohort begins in October 2026, and members of the public are invited to join the process. Participants commit to at least three two-hour Zoom sessions focused on ethical storytelling and story-gathering techniques. During the sessions, each participant will develop a prompt, then create and submit a self-recorded talk-story video responding to that prompt. Participants will also be paired for an intergenerational talk-story session, which will be audio recorded with signed waivers and accompanied by a photograph of the participant and their pairing. These materials become part of the Hui Moʻolelo public archive and may help inform future public art and community storytelling projects.

This is how the process continues: one story, one relationship, and one act of listening at a time.

How to RSVP

The September 18 events in New York City are free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. Register at www.mauipublicart.org/nyu.html.

Important entry information: NYU and MoMA security will only admit individuals who are on the official RSVP list by 11 am September 18, 2026. Because the events are free and seating is limited, an RSVP does not guarantee admission to a particular venue or a seat. Seating is first-come, first-seated until capacity is reached.