MAMo Celebrates Contemporary Hawaiian Artists and Designers

Maui Arts & Cultural Center will present the 2018 MAMo at the MACC, in collaboration with the PA‘I Foundation, for the fifth consecutive year, Sat. June 2. This event is a component of the PAʻI Foundation’s Maoli Arts Movement (MAMo). The event celebrates and promotes the work of contemporary Hawaiian artists and designers.

Part of that celebration is the MAMo Wearable Art Show, which has taken place annually in Honolulu since 2006. The event is at 7:30 p.m. in the MACC’s Yokouchi Pavilion with a designer trunk show to follow. Tickets are on sale now.

The event will feature the designs of contemporary island designers whose creations extend from comfortable to traditional to cutting-edge to downright fantastical. Those purchasing the $65 VIP tickets will have the opportunity to preview the trunk show ahead of everyone else and make their purchases prior to the show along with a meet & greet with the designers. The trunk show opens to all attendees after the show. Emcees for the evening are executive director and founder of the PA‘I Foundation Vicky Holt Takamine and Robert Cazimero.

MAMo at the MACC is a fashion show and more. “We realized that art is not just what we frame and put on a wall,” according to Vicky Holt Takamine. “It’s the culture, principles and values that are at the core of who we are, that get transferred to the things that we wear.”

This facet of the MAMo celebration came about to showcase Hawaiian design in fabric and clothing specifically in terms of cultural motif, in a way that makes it more than just a runway fashion show. Many traditional Hawaiian patterns and designs – in kapa and weaving, in weaponry and tools, in tattoo and adornment – take their visual clues from nature.

The clothing and fabric designs at the MAMo at the MACC show include a wide array of styles, influences, and philosophies, covering the rainbow spectrum of Hawai‘i people: everything from ready-to-wear active clothing to pieces that might be something to be displayed on a wall. Some designers use botanical and environmental patterns as a design motif, some pay tribute to the land and its creatures, or mark inspiration from ancient chants, including the Kumulipo, and others make their creations with full knowledge and implementation of the spiritual and ancestral connections.

This year’s wearable art event showcases creations by Maui Nui designers Kanoelani Davis/PōMahina Designs and Anna Kahalekulu/Kūlua Designs, as well as, Micah Kamohoaliʻi/Dezigns by Kamohoali‘i, Kawika Lum-Nelmida/Kawika Lum Designs, Lufi Luteru/Pāwehi Creations, Kēhaulani Nielson/Kahulale‘ā, and Ari South.

Tickets are $35 and $45 for reserved seating and $65 for VIP seating, all plus applicable fees. The VIP ticket includes a Trunk Show preview and a Meet the Designers session from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. with advance trunk show purchase privileges. For tickets call the MACC Box Office at (808) 242-SHOW or book online at MauiArts.org.