Without a doubt, hula is one of the strongest and most deeply rooted traditions in practice within the Hawaiian culture. Hula has gained broad-based appeal over the years as an expression of culture through words and dance worldwide.
This year, the Bishop Museum Association Council (BMAC) invites you to deepen your understanding of hula by exploring special topics within the discipline from a physical, spiritual, and creative perspective through the first-ever, year-long Hula Film Festival, coordinated by Hawaiian historian Nanette Napoleon, and presented under the auspices of the Council’s successful Traditions of the Pacific education program. The Hula Film Festival is sponsored by Kamehameha Schools, Ka’iwakiloumoku Hawaiian Cultural Center.
Traditions of the Pacific is an ongoing cultural enrichment and educational program that highlights the unique cultural heritage and natural science of Hawai‘i, Asia, and the Pacific through stories, fieldtrips, lectures, workshops, and now, films. The popular program began in 1991 and will continue throughout 2008.
The Bishop Museum Association Council’s new Traditions of the Pacific: HULA FILM FESTIVAL begins in February 2008 and continues through November 2008 with a film-a-month event presented on Tuesday nights at Atherton Hālau on the grounds of Bishop Museum. Films will include a special introduction by a Bishop Museum cultural expert or special guest affiliated with the film. General admission to the film screenings is $5; Free for Bishop Museum members.
According to project coordinator Nanette Napoleon, “Each of the films selected for the festival represent hula’s diversity and continuing impact on individuals and society in general, not only in Hawai’i, but throughout the world.”
Bishop Museum’s vast collection of traditional hula implements, oli, mele, mo‘olelo, illustrations and other resources has influenced generations of dancers, chanters and hula teachers, and will continue to do so for generations to come. Bishop Museum is the world’s largest repository of the arts and cultural artifacts of Pacific Island cultures, including an unrivaled collection of 18th- and 19th-century artworks of and about Hawai‘i. -- www.bishopmuseum.org
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