A new plaque in front of a popular Waikīkī's monument commemorates the story of four mahu healers from Tahiti who came to Hawaiʻi to treat diseases. Honolulu officials held a ceremony Tuesday to unveil the new plaque installed on a stone outside of the gated Healer Stones of Kapaemahu.
Joe Wilson, a member of a group that pushed for signage acknowledging a more complete story of the stones, said monuments and public art are powerful symbols of who and what are valued by a community. “Kapaemahu should and will be a shining example of a city that honors and celebrates its culture, diversity and all who visit or call it home,” Wilson said at the blessing ceremony.
Honolulu officials on Tuesday introduced a new interpretive plaque for four large boulders in the center of Waikiki that honor Tahitian healers of dual male and female spirit who visited Oahu some 500 years ago.
A new plaque has been unveiled to provide historical insights into the significance of the Kapaemahu Stones, allowing people to learn more about their cultural and historical importance.
The creative quartet of Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, Dan Sousa, and Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu create films that consistently tell an indigenous experience in precise animated terms. In their previous effort, 'Kapaemahu', the Hawaiian indigenous past was revealed in the commercialized present (more about the film). In the new short animation, the queer-themed 'Aikāne' (the term meaning intimate friend of the same sex) a queer romance is developed between two men in the very distant past, full of colonial implications. The film has now become Oscar-qualified, after it won the Animated Shorts Jury Award, at the 2023 New Hampshire Film Festival.
That’s a wrap! New Hampshire’s largest film festival has announced the recipients of the New Hampshire Film Festival’s (NHFF) prestigious awards after four packed days of screenings, panels, and parties. This is the second year the NHFF is an Academy Awards qualifying festival for short films, making live action and animated shorts jury award recipients eligible to submit for Oscar consideration. NHFF Executive Director Nicole Gregg says, “We are so energized that once again, the New Hampshire Film Festival distinguished itself as an important opportunity for filmmakers who come from near and far, and for audiences, who not only get to see the films, but are encouraged to interact with directors, writers, producers, actors, and cinematographers.”
The Great Reads authors for kids from Western Region I discuss their books and why they write for young people. Great Reads from Great Places is a project of the Library of Congress Center for the Book. Each year, the 56 Affiliated Centers for the Book choose a book for kids and one for adults that represents their states' or territories' literary heritage. In this video, Kapaemahu authors Dean Hamer & Joe Wilson discuss their work.
"When I was planning to write a “first impression” style article about an LGBTQ+ inclusive children’s book, my first instinct was to talk about what the book would have taught me when I was young. I did not expect to pick up a book that would teach me, a queer adult, about new aspects of queerness. That changed when I first opened Kapaemahu." - Ethan Seavey
Join us in the first floor reading room of Hawaii State Library for a book discussion with this year’s Great Reads from Great Places selectees, chosen by the Hawai‘i Center for the Book to represent Hawai‘i at the 2023 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. in August. This year’s selected titles are Kapaemahu by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson and Island Wisdom by Kainoa Daines and Annie Daly. Authors Hina Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Kainoa Daines will be attending to discuss their titles. The featured books will be available for purchase at the event.
OUTtv hosts Christian & Kim attend Pride in Honolulu, Hawaii and interview Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu and Bishop Museum historian DeSoto Brown to learn about Māhū identity, the "I Am A Boy" buttons and The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu.
