Mahuika, 2019
Mahuika is an installation of ten hand-sewn pennant flags each representing a flaming fingernail of the atua Mahuika, who gifted the knowledge of fire to her descendants.
Exhibited at the Hawai’i State Art Museum as a part of the 2019 Honolulu Biennial To make Wrong/Right Now, this installation was inspired by a taonga we spent time within the British Museum Collection, a two-metre-long flag, made from muka, wool, feathers, and bird skin. Our pennant flags were made from red and yellow barrier mesh, wool, and cable ties. Our research trip to Honolulu in 2018 coincided with Hurricane Lane. We were struck with the large amount of industrial temporary boundaries present - plastic tape, cones, and mesh-covered chain-link fences around vacant lots. The use of temporary barrier mesh is an ode to Mahuika and women who work to push through boundaries. We want Mahuika to be an acknowledgment of strong female leadership.
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Mahuika is installed inside the architectural archways and migrates down the outside of the building. While the red and yellow colours echo the fires of Mahuika and the lava flows of Pele, an atua of volcanoes and fire in Hawai’i, they are also an acknowledgement of the U.S. occupied Kingdom of Hawai’i. It was significant to us when we chose this site, that the flags would be visible from both the State Capitol and the Iolani Palace grounds.
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10 x pennant flags at 2m x 8m each Barrier mesh, wool, and cable ties
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Commissioned by 2019 Honolulu Biennale with support from Creative New Zealand and the Whakatāne Museum Volcanic Artist in Residency Programme.
Curated by Dr Nina Tonga