An exhibit coming this fall to the Honolulu Museum of Art will feature several pieces that have never been publicly displayed before from the collections of the Bishop Museum, Hawaii State Archives, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, Iolani Palace and the museum's own catalog.
"Hooulu Hawaii: The King Kalakaua Era" chronicles a period of change in Hawaii. The period from 1874 to 1891 was one where the islands welcomed many new visitors from the east and west and also started expressing a unified sense of Hawaiian culture and traditions across the globe.
The exhibit at Honolulu Museum of Art opens Sept. 13 and runs through Jan. 27.
Artistic examples featured in the exhibition explore how both Hawaiian and foreign art traditions were reshaped in a local context and then deployed in the projection of a national identity. The exhibition includes sections depicting early endeavors in technology and arts including photography, early telephones, hula, music and fashion, as well as artifacts from Hawaiian diplomatic missions including scrapbooks, royal orders, gifts and garments.
Healoha Johnston, the museum's first Native Hawaiian curator, is compiling an illustrated catalog of the exhibit along with other experts and scholars, and a slate of public and community programs is in the works.