Creativity and culture abounded last month at the 6th annual Pow! Wow! Hawai‘i.
The week-long collaborative art event brought together international and local artists with art lovers who flooded Kaka’ako’s streets to take in the art gallery shows, lecture series, schools for art and music, mural projects, a creativity space, poetry readings, dance performances, concerts and live art installations.
“This was my first time coming to Pow! Wow!,” said attendee Shamrock Gohier. “I actually really enjoyed being here. It was really cool getting to see all these different pieces of artwork by different people from all over.”
According to an article written by Pow! Wow! founder and lead director Jasper Wong, the festival was inspired by the pow wow, a traditional Native American gathering in which people come together to sing, dance, reunite with old friends and make new ones.
Pow! Wow! has now done shows all over the globe, expanding to places like Germany, New Zealand, Taiwan, Israel, Long Beach, Guam and Jamaica.
One of the highlights of the Honolulu festival are the mural paintings, which take several days to complete and involve the participation of artists from around the world such as Usugrow (Japan), Hebru Brantly (Chicago), Tanja Misery Jade (New Zealand) and Kalani Ware (California).
“I’m trying to get involved with more mural work,” Ware said. “Any chance you can get from other artists and get familiar with the different faces, you build more relationships.”
by Dutches K. Richards, Ka ‘Ohana Staff Reporter
