Ka Wahine o Kekoa | Queen Ka'ahumanu Center
Aunty Kekoa Enomoto
In April 2022, Queen Kaʻahumanu Center GM Kauwela Bisquera participated in our Hui Mo‘olelo program, led by kumu Leilehua Yuen. Upon completion, Kauwela was paired with Kekoa Enomoto, ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu and Chairwoman, Paʻupena Community Development Corporation, for an audio-recorded talk-story session. Professional artists were then asked to submit a proposal bringing this story to life through a work of public art. Upon selection by a community jury, artist Fathima Mohiuddin entered a period of project development to infuse her proposal in Kahului history, culture and sense of place -- ultimately resulting in a freely accessible work created through community engagement.
This talk-story audio recording will be interpreted as a mural at Kahului's Queen Kaʻahumanu Center, to be unveiled in December 2022: Excerpt HERE Full Recording HERE |
Artwork title: Ka Wahine o Kekoa
Inspired by ʻōlelo noʻeau #1190: I ka noho pu ana a ‘ike i ke aloha. (It is only when one has lived with another that one knows the meaning of love).
Artist statement:
Everything with intention and purpose. Colours of mountains. Colours of jade. Colours of sand.
The love of legends and legends of love.
Naupaka.
Purple. Taro.
Kapa.
Tied by tradition. By a place between the mountains and the desert where the bones of ancestors lay buried. Where women fought alongside men.
Manono.
I read about Queens who fought for language. A butterfly in her hair.
Resilient and nurturing.
Nostalgic.
The paddler.
Intergenerational home making.
Warrior women.
Like flowers. Like mountains.
Inspired by ʻōlelo noʻeau #1190: I ka noho pu ana a ‘ike i ke aloha. (It is only when one has lived with another that one knows the meaning of love).
Artist statement:
Everything with intention and purpose. Colours of mountains. Colours of jade. Colours of sand.
The love of legends and legends of love.
Naupaka.
Purple. Taro.
Kapa.
Tied by tradition. By a place between the mountains and the desert where the bones of ancestors lay buried. Where women fought alongside men.
Manono.
I read about Queens who fought for language. A butterfly in her hair.
Resilient and nurturing.
Nostalgic.
The paddler.
Intergenerational home making.
Warrior women.
Like flowers. Like mountains.
Fathima Mohiuddin | @fatspatrol
Fatspatrol (Fathima) is an Indian, UAE-born and raised, Canadian immigrant artist who splits her time between Toronto and Dubai. Her work embodies her third-culture identity in the sense that it is a hybrid medley of many influences and in the end a voice of her own. Addressing her own curiosity about the world, our place in it and other existential conundrums, Fatspatrol works heavily with symbolism and narrative to share her stories and learnings and find universal sentiments whilst. Passionate about art’s social impact, Fats’ work in recent years has made its way to public walls in 10 countries accompanied by a studio practice in drawing and painting and a number of brand-related commercial projects. Fathima graduated with a BA in Art & Culture from the University of Toronto and an MA in Sociology from Goldsmiths, University of London. In 2010, she was awarded the Sheikha Manal Young Artist Award and founded The Domino, an artist-run platform in Dubai.
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COMMUNITY CONSULTATIONS
From the artist: Mountains rising above a desert that has seen battles where women fought alongside men. Warrior women. Sturdy and resilient like the mountains, and gentle like the flowers that blow in the breeze.
‘Warrior women’ was the theme I started with having listened to the conversation between Aunty Kekoa and Kauwela. There was a warm softness in their voices accompanied by a striking sense of sturdiness. “The emotional work of the society is carried by women” said Nohelani when we chatted about her upbringing in Kahului, her children and her recent venture into politics. I picked up on this note early on and it was reinforced through our dialogues the following weeks.
Stories of journey, of nurturing, of fortitude, of community. Of people coming together to celebrate history, heritage and cultures that came from abroad. And a place where love lives. I placed the naupaka front and centre as I thought to myself “this is where love lives”. Love of home. Of community. Of greeting every situation with Aloha. And the poetic love of Lisa and Halemanu that radiates from them even more in person. A love of kindness. Of giving and sharing. Of togetherness.
And so the artwork is meant to represent warrior women. In this place between the mountains and the desert. Where the spirit of women, Queens, before them, lives on. Each colour purposely chosen to be relevant to here. The purple of tarot and morning glory. The moon above, a nod to the Goddess Hina. The green of jade, representing those who arrived from away and have been sewed into the fabric of this community. Traditions embodied in kapa, hula, lei, pa’u riders and canoe. Aunty Kekoa, our muse. Standing together, generations between them. Sturdy like mountains, gentle like flowers that blow in the breeze.
‘Warrior women’ was the theme I started with having listened to the conversation between Aunty Kekoa and Kauwela. There was a warm softness in their voices accompanied by a striking sense of sturdiness. “The emotional work of the society is carried by women” said Nohelani when we chatted about her upbringing in Kahului, her children and her recent venture into politics. I picked up on this note early on and it was reinforced through our dialogues the following weeks.
Stories of journey, of nurturing, of fortitude, of community. Of people coming together to celebrate history, heritage and cultures that came from abroad. And a place where love lives. I placed the naupaka front and centre as I thought to myself “this is where love lives”. Love of home. Of community. Of greeting every situation with Aloha. And the poetic love of Lisa and Halemanu that radiates from them even more in person. A love of kindness. Of giving and sharing. Of togetherness.
And so the artwork is meant to represent warrior women. In this place between the mountains and the desert. Where the spirit of women, Queens, before them, lives on. Each colour purposely chosen to be relevant to here. The purple of tarot and morning glory. The moon above, a nod to the Goddess Hina. The green of jade, representing those who arrived from away and have been sewed into the fabric of this community. Traditions embodied in kapa, hula, lei, pa’u riders and canoe. Aunty Kekoa, our muse. Standing together, generations between them. Sturdy like mountains, gentle like flowers that blow in the breeze.
PROJECT TIMELINE
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MAHALO Aunty Kekoa Enomoto & Kauwela Bisquera Ann-Marie Power Atherton Family Foundation County of Maui Fred Baldwin Memorial Foundation Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House / Maui Historical Society Imua Family Services & Discovery Garden Jocelyn Romero Demirbag Kauanoe Batangan Leilehua Yuen Lisa & Halemanu Villiarimo Zeke & Kelly Kalua Lokahi Pacific Matt Pierce National Endowment for the Arts Nohe U‘u-Hodgins Queen Ka'ahumanu Center Tamara Sherrill |