{"id":233138,"date":"2026-04-27T11:32:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T21:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=233138"},"modified":"2026-04-27T14:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T00:02:16","slug":"kapulani-landgraf-named-guggenheim-fellow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/27\/kapulani-landgraf-named-guggenheim-fellow\/","title":{"rendered":"Framing history: Windward CC<\/abbr>\u2019s Kapulani Landgraf named Guggenheim Fellow"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Kapulani Landgraf (Photo by Alex Singer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Windward Community College Professor of Art and Gallery ʻIolani<\/span> Director Kapulani Landgraf has been named a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow. Landgraf is one of just 223 distinguished individuals selected from a highly competitive pool of nearly 5,000 applicants for this honor.<\/p>\n

The fellowship will support Landgraf\u2019s project, What Was Taken, What Remains<\/em>, a body of work confronting colonial histories and reasserting Hawaiian visual sovereignty. Through archival research, photographic interventions, collage and the integration of ʻōlelo<\/span> Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> (Hawaiian language) and moʻolelo<\/span> (stories), the project reframes dominant narratives to restore voices to histories long obscured.<\/p>\n

‘On our own terms’<\/h2>\n
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Artwork by Kapulani Landgraf entitled, “Hoʻokuleana<\/span>.” (Photo credit: Kapulani Landgraf)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“My work has always been about accountability—of images, of histories, and of the ways they are constructed and carried forward,” Landgraf said. “This fellowship supports the continuation of that work, but it also underscores its urgency. What has been taken cannot remain unexamined, and what remains must be made visible on our own terms.”<\/p>\n

Widely recognized for her multimedia installations and photography exploring ʻāina<\/span> (land) and the impacts of colonialism, Landgraf positions the camera as both a witness and an intervention. At Windward CC<\/abbr>, she has transformed Gallery ʻIolani<\/span> into a space centered on Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>-based artists and cultural continuity. She is also the author of multiple monographs, including Nā<\/span> Wahi Pana O Koʻolau<\/span> Poko<\/em> and Nā<\/span> Wahi Kapu O Maui<\/em>, which extend her explorations of ʻāina<\/span>, moʻokūʻauhau<\/span> (genealogy), and resistance.<\/p>\n

Established in 1925, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation provides monetary stipends allowing scholars and artists to pursue independent work under “the freest possible conditions.” The Foundation has granted nearly $450 million to more than 19,000 Fellows, an elite group that includes Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and cultural icons.<\/p>\n

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Artwork by Kapulani Landgraf entitled, ““Hoʻoheihei<\/span>.” (Photo provided by University of Cambridge, U.K.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fellowship will support Landgraf\u2019s work to reassert Hawaiian visual sovereignty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":233143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[105,598,156,1057,71,66],"class_list":["post-233138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-art","tag-faculty-recognition","tag-gallery-iolani","tag-hawaiian-language","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-windward-community-college","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