At the heart of Honolulu Hale, a towering symbol of resilience and healing now stands—a massive 22-foot-wide, 8-foot-tall wooden ʻumeke created by Native Hawaiian artist Meleanna Aluli Meyer.
Unveiled on February 14, this historic art piece made in collaboration with Honolulu Community College carpentry students and University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa art and theatre faculty and students, is unlike anything seen before.
In Hawaiʻi, ʻumeke (calabashes or bowls) typically range from 4 to 12 inches in diameter, and hold everything from water and food to sacred offerings. Meleanna’s piece, ʻUmeke Lāʻau (Culture Medicine), expands this tradition, transforming the ʻumeke into a monument to healing and reflection.
The project is part of Hawaiʻi Triennial 2025: Aloha Nō (HT25), the state’s largest international contemporary art event. Meleanna, an award-winning artist and educator, envisioned it as a way to spark deeper conversations about societal change, repair and healing.
“Many systems are profoundly broken, many aspects of society are in need of critical reimagining and repair,” Meleanna said. “Artists are trying mightily to bring healing through the arts.”
Never forgotten
Constructed from African mahogany veneer and other woods, the structure carries a deeper significance beyond its physical form. Inside, built-in speakers will play thousands of names of Native Hawaiians and Hawaiʻi Citizens who signed the Kūʻē Petitions of 1897, opposing Hawaiʻi’s annexation by the United States. Among them was Meleanna’s grandfather, Noa Webster Aluli, who signed as a 17-year-old, making the piece a deeply personal tribute to those who fought to protect their one hānau (homeland).
The names were recorded by UH Mānoa Hawaiian Theatre program faculty and students, ensuring that those voices are heard again.
“Sitting with more than 38,000 inoa kupuna (ancestral names) who signed the petition in 1897 is profound,” said Tammy Hailiʻōpua Baker, professor and founder of the Hawaiian theatre program. “The recording process gathered a handful of kanaka with genealogical connections to districts and islands that they voiced. Each of us was moved when we recognized and read family names into the microphone.”
Huli ka lima i lalo, Turn the hands down
The project was a collaborative effort, designed and assembled by Meleanna while serving as an artist-in-residence at UH Mānoa. Working alongside UH Mānoa art students and faculty, including Kainoa Gruspe and Amber Khan, Meleanna brought the vision to life. The project also involved Honolulu CC assistant professor Dean Crowell and his carpentry students, who skillfully crafted the infrastructure of the towering ʻumeke sections.
Kaʻili Chun, a Native Hawaiian artist and newly appointed assistant art professor at UH Mānoa, was among those who helped bring the piece to life.
“This ʻumeke is feeding us in a different way,” Chun said. “It’s taking us beyond nourishment and sustaining us physically—it’s feeding us spiritually, culturally, intellectually.”
An interactive experience
Unlike most art pieces, the ʻUmeke Lāʻau is meant to be entered and can hold up to 30 people at a time. Visitors are asked to remove their shoes before stepping inside. Once inside, Meleanna invites them to share a single word that captures their experience.
Words including “faith,” “mana” (divine power), “pilina” (connection, relationship) and “transformation” have echoed within its walls.
“It’s very rare to have an immersive experience with an art piece,” said Noelle Kahanu, curator of HT25 and associate specialist in the American studies department at UH Mānoa. “Not only are you blown away by looking at it from the outside, but you actually get to enter into it. It just makes you want to cry.”
Limited time exhibit
The ʻUmeke Lāʻau is open to the public and will be on display from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. at Honolulu Hale through May 4 before traveling to Kapolei Hale and other locations.
This groundbreaking piece was funded by Hawaiʻi Triennial 2025 and many private donors who believe in Meleanna’s life work. It is also made possible through the UH Foundation Admiral Residency in Contemporary Pacific Art, UH Mānoa Department of Art and Art History, Debra Drexler (UH art galleries) and Brad Taylor (chair, art department).
Credit: hawaii.
