Hui Noʻeau shares video of sacred ulana ʻie Hō‘ike by Maui youth cohort

The Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Center invites the public to watch a recorded video of the Ka Ulana ʻIe Maui Junior Cohort Hō‘ike & Panel Discussion, held June 28, 2025, at the center’s Makawao campus.

The hō‘ike marked the conclusion of a pilot program aimed at reviving ulana ʻie, the traditional Hawaiian art of weaving with the aerial roots of the ʻieʻie plant.

Over four months, three high school students from Maui trained under cultural practitioners Kumulāʻau Sing and May Haunani Balino-Sing, learning weaving techniques rooted in ʻike kupuna (ancestral knowledge), Hawaiian language and storytelling. Each session integrated pule (prayer), oli (chant) and Hawaiian values such as aloha and kuleana.

The public event last month featured a moving panel discussion with the haumāna (students) and mentors, alongside an exhibition of the students’ finished woven works. Attendees engaged in thoughtful conversation around cultural identity, transmission of knowledge and the future of Hawaiian art.

Panel participants included artists Terrance Kalima Kanaloa Davis, Keolaonākaiʻelua Mather and Leah Nāpua Sardine. Cultural practitioners Kekai Kapu and Gayle Miyaguchi also contributed to the event, which was moderated by Sing and Balino-Sing.

The Junior Cohort was supported by the Laila Twigg-Smith Art Fund of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation and the Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The students’ work remains on display in the Hui’s gallery through July 25, 2025. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with free admission.

More details are available at huinoeau.com.