Heʻe Nalu: The Art and Legacy of Hawaiian Surfing

A group curated exhibition by Carolyn Kuali‘i & Kanani Daley 

Exhibition On View: October 12 - November 27, 2024

Opening Saturday October 12, at 12PM in the Ola Nā Iwi gallery

Exhibition Description (In English and ‘Olelo): 

Today, there are an estimated 35 million surfers around the world, creating an iconic lifestyle sport that is recognized globally. No matter where a surfer is from or their ethnicity, all surfers can trace their roots back to heʻe nalu and Kānaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiians).  

The Heʻe Nalu project retells the story of heʻe nalu with Kānaka ʻŌiwi at the center, yielding a truer account of heʻe nalu history that has been sidelined by the surf industry’s popularized surf culture. Heʻe Nalu: The Art and Legacy of Hawaiian Surfing was intentionally curated to reinstate and uphold the integrity of the moʻolelo of surfing by lifting the veil of the modern-day surf narratives so that the deeply rich moʻolelo of Hawaiʻi’s beloved past-time could be revealed.

In 2023, Heʻe Nalu: The Art and Legacy of Hawaiian Surfing was on exhibit at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. The exhibition covered 2,000 years of surfing history from the earliest stories of surf deities to contemporary works of art and surfing innovations through the lens of fifteen modern Kānaka ʻŌiwi creatives and cultural practitioners. The exhibit presented a cyclical narrative rooted in culture, while bringing to light the complicated history that surfing’s Indigenous people have with the Western-dominated billion-dollar surfing industry. Yet, surfing has been a sanctuary for Kānaka ʻŌiwi  and remains to be an integral part of Kānaka identity.  

In partnerships with some of Hawaiʻi’s leading art organizations, we bring to Oʻahu, Maui and Hawaiʻi Island smaller iterations of Heʻe Nalu: The Art and Legacy of Hawaiian Surfing. With the recent 2024 Summer Olympics surfing competition, we bring attention to the controversy around Hawaiian nationals denied the ability to compete under the Hawaiian flag. We also stand in solidarity with our Tahitian cousins over the negative environmental impact of the construction of the Olympic judging tower on the coral reef of Teahupoʻo, Tahiti.  Pūpūkahi i holomua - Unite to move forward!   

Ke aloha nō, Kuaʻāina Associates
 

The original concept for the exhibit, Heʻe Nalu: The Art and Legacy of Hawaiian Surfing was developed in partnership with the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, guest curator Carolyn Melenani Kualiʻi of Kuaʻāina Associates and artist Ian Kualiʻi.

The story of Heʻe Nalu is told through works of Kānaka Maoli artists and cultural practitioners: Cory Kamehanaokalā Taum, Rick San Nicolas, *Solomon Enos, Lehuauakea, *Tom Pōhaku Stone, *Daniel Ikaika Ito, *Ian Kualiʻi, *Nicole Naone, *Pōhaku Kahoʻohanohano, *Clifford Kapono, Christopher Kahunahana, Haʻa Keaulana, Akila Aipa, Stephen Hokulani Kupihea and video footage courtesy of Zone Media.  

*Artists Showing at EHCC: 

Ian Kuali'i

Nicole Naone

Solomon Enos

Clifford Kapono

Daniel Ikaika Ito

Tom Pōhaku Stone

Cory Kamehanaokala Holt Taum

Hawaiʻi Partners & Curatorial Teams: 

Arts & Letters Nuʻuanu – Maile Meyers, Josh Tengan, Cosmo Brossy and Allison Benz

Aupuni Space – Donnie Cervantes & Logan Rubasch

manini Gallery – Johnny Macas-Freire

Paʻia Bay Coffee Bar – Carolyn Melenani Kualiʻi, Ian Kualiʻi and Whitney Boswell

Donkey Mill Art Center – Mina Elison

East Hawaiʻi Cultural Center – Kanani Daley

Mahalo nui loa to the following supporters who made the Hawaiʻi project of Heʻe Nalu: The Art and Legacy of Hawaiian Surfing possible: This exhibition and programming are made possible by support from The Hiroaki Elaine & Lawrence Kono Foundation, Holualoa Inn, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, Atherton Family Foundation, The Creative City Advisory Fund, Core Group One, The James Simmons and Karen Rudolph Fund, Puʻuhonua Society, the National Endowment for the Arts, DAWSON of the Hawaiian Native Corporation, and our community of individual donors.

I kēia lā, he kanakolukūmālima miliona ʻoi aku a emi mai paha kanaka he'enalu a puni ka honua, a he hōʻailona ia i ke kaulana o ia ʻalapa nohona. No hea mai lā ke kanaka, pehea lā kona piko, pili ke kūʻauhau i ka hana heʻenalu a me nā Kānaka ʻŌiwi.

Hōʻike aku kēia pāhana ʻo Heʻe Nalu i ke kuanaʻike o ke Kānaka ʻŌiwi i kēia mea ʻo ka heʻe nalu, i mea e ʻoi aku ai ka ʻoiaʻiʻo o kona mōʻaukala i ʻano ālai ʻia e ka ʻoihana kaulana i paʻa i kēia mau lā. I paʻa a hōʻike kūhelu ʻia ka moʻolelo me ka mōʻaukala o ka heʻenalu ʻana, hoʻomākaukau ʻia kēia, ʻo Heʻe Nalu: The Art and Legacy of Hawaiian Surfing, ma o ka huʻe ʻana aku i ke kūmole o ko Hawaiʻi hana aloha a leʻaleʻi hoʻi, ʻo ia nō ka heʻenalu ʻana.

I ka makahiki 2023, ua hōʻike ʻia aku ʻo Heʻe Nalu: The Art and Legacy of Hawaiian Surfing ma ka Hale Hōʻikeʻike ʻo Heard ma Phoenix, Arizona. Hōʻike ʻia ka mōʻaukala o ka heʻenalu ʻana, mai nā moʻolelo a me nā kaʻao o ʻelua paha kaukani makahiki aku nei e hōʻike ana i ka heʻenalu ʻana o nā akua, nā kupua a me nā aliʻi, a hiki i nā hana o kēia lā a me ka hakuloli ʻana aku ma ka ʻalapa i kēia wā ma o ke kuanaʻike o ʻumikūmālima Kānaka ʻŌiwi a kāʻeʻaʻeʻa. He hōʻike kēia no ke kuanaʻike ʻōiwi a hōʻike a hōʻakāka ʻia aku pū nō paha ka mōʻaukala nōhihi o ka heʻenalu ʻōiwi me ka ʻoihana biliona o ka heʻenalu. He ʻano puʻuhonua naʻe ka heʻenalu ʻana no nā Kānaka ʻŌiwi a he mea koʻikoʻi ʻiʻo nō i ka pikoʻu ʻōiwi.

Ua hiki nō ke mālama ʻia kekahi mau huna koʻikoʻi i kēia hōʻike ʻo Heʻe Nalu: The Art and Legacy of Hawaiian Surfing ma Oʻahu, Maui a me Hawaiʻi ma muli hoʻi o ka hana laulima ʻana aku me kekahi mau hui pāheona o Hawaiʻi. Maliu nō hoʻi ka ʻāʻumeʻume o ka hōʻole ʻia ʻana aku o nā kāʻeʻaʻeʻa Hawaiʻi e hoʻokūkū ma lalo o ka hae Hawaiʻi ma ka hoʻokūkū heʻenalu ma Nā Pāʻani ʻOlumepika Kauwela 2024. Kū hoʻokahi pū mākou me ko mākou ʻohana Tahiti ma ka hoʻāhewa ʻana aku i ke kūkulu ʻana aku i hale luna loi ʻOlumepika ma luna o ka hāpapa o Teahupoʻo, Tahiti, a me nā hopena o ia kūkulu ʻana aku, ʻo ka ʻeha a me ka pilikia.

Ua mōhala mai ka manaʻo mua o ia hōʻike ʻo Heʻe Nalu: The Art and Legacy of Hawaiian surfing ma ka hana pūalu ʻana o ka Hale Hōʻikeʻike ʻo Heard ma Phoenix, Arizona, ka puʻukū ʻo Carolyn Melenani Kualiʻi o Kuaʻāina Associates, a me ka loea noʻeau ʻo Ian Kualiʻi.

Hōʻike ʻia ka moʻolelo o Heʻe Nalu ma o nā hana o nā loea noʻeau Hawaiʻi: Cory Kamehanaokalā Taum, Rick San Nicolas, Solomon Enos, Lehuauakea, Tom Pōhaku Stone, Daniel Ikaika Ito, Ian Kualiʻi, Nicole Naone, Pōhaku Kahoʻohanohano, Clifford Kapono, Christopher Kahunahana, Haʻa Keaulana, Akila Aipa, Stephen Hokulani Kupihea and video footage courtesy of Zone Media.

He leo mahalo kēia i nā kākoʻo o ka hōʻike Hawaiʻi o Heʻe Nalu: The Art and Legacy of Hawaiian Surfing. Ua hiki ke mālama ʻia ka hōʻike a ma ka polokalamu ma muli hoʻi o ke kākoʻo o The Hiroaki Elaine & Lawrence Kono Foundation, Holualoa Inn, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, Atherton Family Foundation, The Creative City Advisory Fund, Core Group One, The James Simmons and Karen Rudolph Fund, Puʻuhonua Society, the National Endowment for the Arts,  DAWSON of the Hawaiian Native Corporation, a me ke kaiāulu o nā kānaka kōkua, kākoʻo a makana hoʻi.