Maui Public Art Corps’ Hui Moʻolelo Film Festival, April 27

Maui Public Art Corps in collaboration with the County of Maui and Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House / Maui Historical Society will host its third “Hui Mo‘olelo Film Festival” from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 27. The event is FREE and will be held at ProArts Playhouse in Kīhei. The public is invited to this premiere of a new collection of animated film shorts that celebrate Maui history, culture and sense of place.

The result of the collective’s most recent call to artists, the films stem from the developing Hui Mo’olelo program. Through artist Leilehua Yuen, who originally applied to the SMALL TOWN * BIG ART program in 2019, a cohort of storytellers are trained, then paired with intergenerational partners to audio-record memories rooted in special places throughout Maui County. Each year, professional artists from across the globe submit proposals to translate a story as a work of public art. A total of 77 public artworks have been created to date, including murals, mele, dance, sculpture, animation, lightwork and more.

Upon selection by a community panel, artists Sasha Hercik​​ of Kīhei and Richard O’Connor of Brooklyn, NY entered a period of project development to meet the storytellers, learn more about the context of their story, and infuse the evolving design with a sense of place distinct to each recording. Working closely with Maui Public Art Corps and Hale Hōʻikeʻike since February, the artists’ animated film shorts will be presented in alignment with recorded talk-story excerpts about Kahoʻolawe, Waiehu, Kahului and Wailuku.

Story participants include Kevin Gavagan, Assistant Director of Engineering at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea and and his daughter, marine biologist Kukui Gavagan; Andrew Chin, ʻukulele instructor at ʻĪao Intermediate School and his stepfather, artist Michael Takemoto; Maui musicians Anthony Pfluke and Kevin Brown; Anuhea Yagi, Student of Hawaiian Life Ways and Hōaka Delos Reyes, expert in the field of stone-on-stone carving (kālai pōhaku); Hōkūlani Holt, PhD, Kumu Hula, Pāʻū O Hiʻiaka, Ka Hikina O Ka Lā, University of Hawaii Maui College and Cody Pueo Pata, Kumu Hula, Halau Hula ʻo ka Malama Mahilani; Annadele Yahiro + Michael Bursack, Docents for Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House / Maui Historical Society; and Nanifay Paglinawan, Women Helping Women lifetime achievement awardee and Pualani Enos of the UH Mānoa Matsunaga Institute for Peace.

“The Hui Mo‘olelo program has been so nourishing,” said Yagi. “I think one of the great gifts from kumu Leilehua was the opportunity to just have a space to connect with others and be free in sharing. Seeing each person’s unique qualities and how they were able to express themself as themselves and then relate to others in a way that created new connections – it was really astounding to see and liberating… I’m really grateful to Sasha for picking this piece. Uncle Hōaka is a treasure. In the same way that pōhaku have depth and variety, Uncle Hōaka is the same way; just a really brilliant and rooted human being and just a joy to be around. The time to sit with him at the Bailey House was really special.”

“Many people are familiar with the island of Kahoʻolawe as a whole, but very few know of the many different special places that comprise it,” shares Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission Executive Director Mike Nāhoʻopiʻi. “This kind of public art and community engagement, allows us to connect people to those places and share the stories of Kahoʻolawe through creative and meaningful experiences, which is at the core of the KIRCʻs mission.”

The April 27 Hui Moʻolelo Film Festival will be emceed by Sissy Lake-Farm of Hale Hōʻikeʻike. Audience members will experience the premiere of seven individual animated talk-story excerpts, each between 3 to 5 minutes in length, as well as an offering by Maui Public Art Youth Task Force member Kekaulaiwi Farm and a surprise performance. Arrive early to ensure a seat at the theater, which is limited to the first 150 attendees.

To view the artwork research, listen to the story recordings, and more, visit https://www.mauipublicart.org/blog/2024filmfest, which links to all individual project pages. RSVP here.