Island Imperatives The Second Honolulu Biennial
Arriving in Hawai‘i is a confrontation with reality.
As with Aotearoa New Zealand, Hawai‘i has to deal with an image of an exotic, far away holiday location, where cocktails are sipped against endless sunsets.
Truth be told, there is an element of this to the capital Honolulu, one that soon vanishes on visiting the sites of the second Honolulu Biennial.
Curated by Te Papa’s Nina Tonga with a team that includes Devon Bella, a curatorial consultant from San Francisco, and Josh Tengan, a curator living and working in Honolulu, the Biennial is titled To Make Wrong / Right / Now. It questions the image of Honolulu as an American city, transforming it into one of the most engaging, truthful and supportive exhibition platforms to be witnessed in the wider Pacific.
What unfolds through this powerfully direct exhibition is in fact a complex
