POP-UP PERFORMANCE: Anthony Pfluke

Picture
Click for 4-minute project film
In June 2023, Nā Hōkū Hanohano finalist Anthony Pfluke performed a public pop-up performance featuring original songs inspired by Kahoʻolawe and Wailuku, Maui.

Following a 4-day volunteer access with the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission, Anthony worked closely with community members with special ties to this place to write Kū Kīaʻi Kanaloa. Through community consultations with Wailuku sources, an artist huaka’i of the Waihe’e Coastal Dunes and Wetlands Refuge with Hawaiʻi Land Trust, and study of Mary Kawena Pūkuʻi’s ‘Ōlelo No‘eau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings in partnership with Sissy Lake-Farm, Pfluke composed E Ola ʻĪao. The one-time-only pop-up performance was held at Kīpuka Square in Wailuku, and additionally featured music celebrating the distinctive sense of place, history and culture of these special Maui places — the majority of which were performed in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. 

“I was so humbled and overjoyed to share all new original music ma ka ‘ōlelo Hawai’i for Kaho’olawe & Wailuku respectively in Kīpuka Square. Mahalo nui to Small Town Big Art for teaching & guiding me with amazing knowledge of Maui and Kaho’olawe. Mahalo nui kākou a pau.” — Anthony Pfluke 
Photos of Pfluke at the April '23 volunteer Kahoʻolawe access in partnership with the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission + of his June '23 pop-up performance in Wailuku Town. “I was so humbled and overjoyed to share all new original music ma ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi for Kahoʻolawe & Wailuku respectively in Kīpuka Square. Mahalo nui to Small Town Big Art, kumu hula Kealiʻi Reichel, kumu hula Kaponoʻai Molitau, kumu Sissy Lake-Farm, Pueo Pata, Uncle Scott Fisher, and Uncle Kevin Brown, for teaching & guiding me with amazing knowledge of Maui and Kahoʻolawe. Mahalo nui kākou a pau.” 
Picture
Community Consultation with Kealiʻi Reichel
Picture
Community Consultation with Kaponoʻai Molitau
Picture
‘Ōlelo No‘eau meeting with Sissy Lake-Farm

Project Timeline

  • 7/12/23: Project film is released via eNewsletter: "Kahoʻolawe & Wailuku Project Film Drop + Call For Artists Countdown"
  • 6/19/23: Post-event blog post (READ)
  • 6/16/23: Pop-up performance (Kīpuka Square, Wailuku, next to the historic ʻĪao Theater)
  • 6/15/23: Waihe'e Coastal Dunes and Wetlands Refuge huakaʻi with Hawaiʻi Land Trust Chief Conservation Officer Scott Fisher, Ph.D
  • ​6/13/23: Community consultation with Kevin Brown (LISTEN)
  • 6/12/23: eNews issue (READ)
  • 6/12/23: Community consultation with Kealiʻi Reichel
  • 6/2/23: Pop-up performance by Anthony Pfluke with songs inspired by Wailuku and Kahoʻolawe (Maui Now)
  • 6/2/23: Press Release (READ)
  • 5/30/23: Anthony to confirm ‘Ōlelo No‘eau, selected in partnership with Sissy Lake-Farm and community
  • ​5/23/23: Pop-Up Performance Save-the-Date (READ)
  • 5/16/23: Community consultation with Kumu Hula Kaponoʻai Molitau, Owner of Native Intelligence, a Cultural resource center guised as retail in the heart of Wailuku Town. Kahuna Nui of Puʻukoholā Heiau And Kumu Hula of Nā Hanona Kūlike ʻO Piʻilani on the Island of Maui​
  • 4/24/23: Anthony participates in 4-day volunteer access of the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve, in partnership with the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission, in order to create music that is reflective of the Island's history, culture and sense of place 
  • 4/4/23: ‘Ōlelo No‘eau meeting with Sissy Lake-Farm of Hale Hō‘ike‘ike at the Bailey House/ Maui Historical Society (WATCH)
  • 3/22/23: Artist orientation meeting
  • 3/15/23: Anthony's proposal is selected by Maui Public Art Corps/ SMALL TOWN * BIG ART. The team commissions Anthony to create a 20-30 minute set of original music that is steeped in the history, culture and sense of place of A) Kahoʻolawe and B) Wailuku, to be performed live in Wailuku Town in June 2023.