Thursday, June 9, 2011

Handweaving Exhibition

Thanks to an advertisement I happened upon in the morning Honolulu Star-Advertiser last week, the wife and I spent a fascinating hour or so yesterday wandering among some handwoven art at the Academy Art Center near downtown Honolulu.

We were coming back from Pearlridge Center and took the Kinau Street turnoff. See, I thought the exhibition was at the Honolulu Academy of Arts and if we could find parking on Kinau just past Ward, we would be at the backside of the Academy and would just have to walk around to the front.
Hallelujah! We did find parking on Kinau. And we did walk around to the front. And we did go in. But that’s where everything changed. The handweaving exhibition, it turned out, was a one-block walk across the street.
A little disgusted at myself for not confirming the location ahead of time, we had to trudge in the hot, muggy, Honolulu afternoon to the show.
It WAS worth it. Dubbed “Sublime, Sensible, Serendipitous,” the entries were juried by Emily DuBois, an internationally known textile artist who lives on the Big Island in the near-volcano area of Pahoa (where my grandmother’s cousin used to live … I drove her there many times).
Yes, I took pictures:

"Dyptich: Zero Lot Line/Island Homes" (Beverly Major) $400

"Serendipitous: Year of the Rabbit" (Beth Robinson) $250

"Honoring Our Kupuna" (Ruthdell Anderson)

"Try It Anyway" (Kathy Tosh) $323

"Untitled" (Ruthdell Anderson 1976-1977)
If you haven’t been to the exhibition, you really should go. It’s free, it's fascinating, and it’s air-conditioned. Just what you need on these sultry summer days in Hawaii.

Hawaii Handweavers’ Hui 28th Biennial Exhibition: June 3-19, Academy Art Center at Linekona, 1111 Victoria, across from Thomas Square at the corner of Beretania and Victoria Streets.