{"id":226211,"date":"2025-12-01T14:42:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T00:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=226211"},"modified":"2025-12-01T14:43:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T00:43:52","slug":"umeke-laau-art-installation-leeward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/01\/umeke-laau-art-installation-leeward\/","title":{"rendered":"\u02bbUmeke L\u0101\u2018au art installation open to public at Leeward CC<\/abbr> Wai\u2019anae Moku"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Outside
Leeward CC<\/abbr> is currently home to the art installation ʻUmeke<\/span> L\u0101ʻau<\/span>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leeward Community College\u2019s Waiʻanae<\/span> Moku Education Center<\/a> is currently hosting a monumental and deeply resonant piece of artwork: ʻUmeke<\/span> L\u0101ʻau<\/span>: Culture Medicine. The installation, which had been on display earlier this year<\/a> at Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale, was unveiled at Waiʻanae<\/span> Moku in November at a community welcome event.<\/p>\n

\"Woman
The public is invited to view ʻUmeke<\/span> L\u0101ʻau<\/span> at the Waiʻanae<\/span> Moku Educaton Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Part of the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Triennial 2025: Aloha N\u014d, ʻUmeke<\/span> L\u0101ʻau<\/span> is a massive 22-foot-wide, eight-foot-tall installation created by artist Meleanna Aluli Meyer, in collaboration with ‘Team ʻUmeke<\/span>’: Honolulu Community College carpentry students, UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa art faculty and students, and community kokua (help). The work reimagines the traditional ʻumeke<\/span>\u2014a wooden calabash bowl used for nourishment, water and sacred offerings\u2014as a space for reflection, healing, repair and connection.<\/p>\n

ʻUmeke<\/span> L\u0101ʻau<\/span> will be on display at Waiʻanae<\/span> Moku before moving on to Maui in January 2026. Hours are Monday through Thursday 8 a.m.\u20138 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m.\u20134 p.m. Reservation requests must be made in advance<\/a>. Meleanna invites guests to “Come home to Hawaiian culture through the arts.”<\/p>\n

Shared mission<\/h2>\n
\"Group
Leeward CC<\/abbr> hosted a community welcome event for the art installation.
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Hosting the ʻUmeke<\/span> in Waiʻanae<\/span> Moku is an honor,” said Danny Wyatt, Waiʻanae<\/span> Moku coordinator. “It reflects our shared mission to perpetuate Hawaiian culture and to make art meaningful and accessible to our ʻohana<\/span> (family) across the islands.”<\/p>\n

The installation embodies the values of l\u0101ʻau<\/span>, or plant medicine, and features the voices of more than 38,000 signers of the 1897 K\u016bʻ\u0113<\/span> Petitions, opposing Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>‘s annexation by the U.S.<\/p>\n

The Waiʻanae<\/span> Kupuna Council, an influential community group, and Waiʻanae<\/span> Moku invited the installation because of its deep ties to Native Hawaiian communities and its alignment with the campus\u2019s commitment to expanding access to higher education and serving as a vital hub for cultural learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ʻumeke<\/span> is reimagined as a space for reflection, healing, repair and connection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":226204,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[105,33,65,71,1233],"class_list":["post-226211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-art","tag-hawaiian","tag-leeward-community-college","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-waianae-moku-education-center","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t