PICS: ‘Moonlight Mele’ at Bishop Museum

Photos by Malia Leinau / HNLNow.com

Star-Advertiser Staff
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Bishop Museum presented its final “Moonlight Mele” concert of the summer last weekend, with entertainment by Nā Palapalai, George Kahumoku, the Royal Hawaiian Band, Taimane Gardner, Waipuna, the Galliard String Quartet, Hālau Hula Ka No’eau and Samadhi Hawaii.

Along with live entertainment and food/drink vendors, the evening was also a celebration of the Hawaiian Hall’s third floor, Wao Lani, at the Museum.

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Do It: ‘Moonlight Mele’ at Bishop Museum

Star-Advertiser Staff
tgif@staradvertiser.com

The Brothers Cazimero and Kaumaka‘iwa Kanaka‘ole headline the second Moonlight Mele on Bishop Museum lawn, part of its summer concert series.

Aerial performers from Samadhi Hawaii will perform ring, silk and trapeze numbers from a large free-standing rig next to the main stage during specific times in the Cazimeros’ and Kanaka‘ole’s sets.

Other guest artists include Cyril Pahinui and hula halau Pua Ali‘i ‘Ilima.

The concert gets its theme from the second level of the newly restored Hawaiian Hall — “Wao Kanaka,” representing the realm where people live and work. The evening’s events will focus on the importance of the land and nature in daily life. There will be a Night Arts Market featuring artisans demonstrating their skills in traditional Hawaiian crafts, and unique pieces will be on sale.

Audiences will be encouraged to explore the Hawaiian Hall Galleries during the first part of the evening, with entertainment offered in the courtyard as well as the main stage on the lawn.

Food on sale will include healthy Hawaiian plates from Hale Kealoha Ai Pono, Mexican cuisine from Cha Cha Cha Salsaria, and Vegetarian Thai fusion cuisine from Happy’s Hawaii Green Catering, as well as paletas (popsicles) by Onopops and snacks made on site by Kettle Corn Hawaii.

Beach mats will be provided free of charge and guests are also encouraged to bring blankets or low beach chairs. (Coolers or outside food and drink are not allowed.)

» Where: Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice St.
» When: 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. July 3
» Cost: $20 general ($25 day of event), and $15 museum members and military
» Info: 847-3511 or www.bishopmuseum.org

PICS: ‘If Not Now When’ at Bishop Museum

Photos by Cindy Ellen Russell / crussell@staradvertiser.com

A woman views Yong Soo Min’s “Defining Moments” at the “Still Present Pasts: Korean Americans and the ‘Forgotten War’” display at Bishop Museum.

Star-Advertiser Staff
tgif@staradvertiser.com

Local musicians Paula Fuga, Kings of Spade, Linus and DJ Kavet the Catalyst joined Youth Speaks Hawaii, DJs Eske and Capecod and mainland-based Korean-American artists Denizen Kane and Skim at the “If Not Now When Art & Music Festival for Peace & Justice” last weekend at Bishop Museum.

Saturday’s all-ages event brought music, food and art together with the opening of “Still Present Pasts” and two stages of entertainment, plus food booths and cocktail service by the staff of Chinatown nightspot thirtyninehotel. Read more

Inside HILife: ‘Circus: Science Under the Big Top’

Circus charms

Jamm Aquino / jaquino@starbulletin.com

Displays at Bishop Museum for “Circus: Science Under the Big Top,” are free-standing in keeping with the traveling circus theme.

‘CIRCUS: SCIENCE UNDER THE BIG TOP’ » Where: Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice St. » When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (except Tuesdays) through May 2 » Cost: $17.95 general admission; $14.95 for seniors and children ages 4 to 12 years old; free for museum members and children under 4 years old » Info: 847-3511 or www.bishopmuseum.org

By Burl Burlingame
bburlingame@starbulletin.com

Hands-on exhibitry gets new shadings with the first display as you walk in the door of “Circus! Science Under the Big Top,” Bishop Museum’s latest visiting extravaganza.

“Who Dung It: Deduce the Species from the Feces” features trays of — well — animal poop. Luckily, you don’t have to handle the poop to learn the answer; there are pop-up storyboards. And there’s no smell, so this poop is likely like fake window sushi, plastic and long-lasting.

At long last, if a tiger does his business in your yard, you’ll recognize the scat traces. I can think of no better way to entice children than to present them with animal poop.

That settled, “Circus!” is a businesslike mobile exhibit that may have originally been aimed at mall visitors. The exhibits are free-standing and self-contained, easily moved around to suit whatever space they’re unfolded within. That suits the traveling-circus theme and allows the exhibit pieces to resemble colorful wagons and tents.

If there’s a vaguely European aesthetic to the pieces, the show was created by the Ontario Science Centre, which explains the duplicate signage in French.

The two primary pieces are a you-can-do-it high-wire apparatus and an acrobatic suspended-rings deal that uses lots of bungee. The science part takes a back seat to coolness here — did you know how bungee is constructed? — and there’s some background information on the extraordinary Lillian Leitzel, the Ringling Bros.’ “Queen of the Air” who purposefully dislocated her shoulder every performance.

Patrons can try these out themselves, once they’re strapped into a safety harness. Alas, the “high wire” is about three feet off the ground, thanks to the Castle Building’s low ceiling.

There’s a booth to hear animals roar — did you know that big cats like lions and tigers can’t purr? The hyoid apparatus in their throats isn’t hooked up properly — except for elephants, because elephants, it seems, converse in ultralow-frequency chitchat that humans can’t hear.

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[PICS] On the Scene: Sean Na’auao

Na’auao opens ‘Moonlight Mele’ series:

Photos by John Berger / jberger@starbulletin.com

Sean Naauao, third from left, checked in at the private Presidents reception before kicking off the Bishop Museums 2009 Moonlight Mele on the Lawn concert series with special guest Kaumakaiwa Kanakaole Thursday at Bishop Museum.

Bishop Museum Chief Operations Officer Blair Collis, left, Linda Chock, Chief Financial Officer Denys Kazama, CEO Tim Johns and Board Chairman Charman Akina welcomed Naauao to the museum and to the party. Read more

‘Music and Dance of Hawaii’ returns to Bishop Museum

Photo courtesy Bishop Museum

Thanks to a grant from the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Bishop Museum will be resuming the popular Music and Dance of Hawaii hula program during this month.

The program begins June 5 in the Hawaiian Hall Atrium and will occur daily except Sundays and Tuesdays through June 29.

To have hula in the Atrium is wonderful, as we await the opening of Hawaiian Hall in August, said kumu hula Noelani Chang, pictured, whose Halau Na Mamo O Kaala had provided the program for eight years at the museum before it ended last September. There is so much for us to share.

A half-hour hula show, showing both kahiko (ancient) and auana (contemporary) forms, will be held at noon and 2 p.m. as part of the program, with a 45-minute craft demonstration and easy hula lesson given in between at 12:45 p.m.

Music and Dance of Hawaii is included with Bishop Museum admission: $15.95 general admission; $12.95 for keiki ages 4 to 12 and seniors 65 and older; $8.95 for kamaaina and military; and $7.95 for youth and senior kamaaina and military.

For more information, call 847-8511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.