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The Creative and Artistic Side of Molokai
Two years ago, Moloka‘i’s first recording studio, a start-up operation
called Monkeypod, took a big risk. It released a CD of songs by a
fifteen-year-old boy
raised in a remote "backside" valley. Today, Darrell Labrado, the
"Kid from Moloka‘i," is a household name in Hawai‘i.
Monkeypod’s collection of various island artists, "Moloka‘i Now!," also
topped the local charts. The company’s new release by Sterling Kalua is expected
to explode. Sterling will no doubt have to face the choice of whether to give
up his good day-job with one of the airlines.
Hawai‘i pays attention to Moloka‘i.
In the 50th state, Moloka‘i is the native heartland. It’s the only island
with a majority population of native Hawaiians. While tourism flourished,
Moloka‘i defied commercialization. Residents, regardless of their ancestry,
feel first and foremost that they are Moloka‘ians.
In Hawai‘i, people know that anything coming from Moloka‘i will be unusual,
strong, and done well.
The high quality of Moloka‘i’s creative people is evident when you look
around Kamakana Gallery, a one-of-a-kind project in the island’s only town,
Kaunakakai. The gallery displays the work of island artists, carvers, weavers,
quilters and so on - fifty-eight of them.
Wood-working is a Moloka‘i strength. Bill Kapuni carves the implements of his
ancestors -- deep-toned pahu drums from eighty-year-old coconut trunks, platters,
and lidded wooden urns called ‘umeke. Jack Ewing takes full advantage of the
density and color of Hawaiian hardwoods to create bowls so thin that they glow
when held up to the sunlight. Rob the "Mountain Man," who keeps his rustic
woodshop and home at the edge of the Kamakou preserve, likes to integrate the
hard edge of the forest with his masterful work.
Some artists practice skills so rare you won’t find them elsewhere. For
example, Lola Spencer used a state foundation grant to learn the endangered
craft of weaving lauhala, the leaves of a Polynesian coastal tree related to
the yucca. Her hats are masterpieces - tight weave, lovely shapes, and a highly
disciplined control of color and pattern.
Moloka‘ians like these are true originals.
So is homeboy Rik Cooke, whose credits include National Geographic and a fascinating
coffee-table book of island portraits. In 1989, he and his wife Bronwyn created a
retreat center called Hui Ho‘olana, a gathering place for "creativity, healing and
the arts." Set in the cool uplands of Kala‘e, the Hui offers a schedule of
live-in courses on subjects such as Life Paint And Passion, Seeing Your Life
Through New Eyes, and Kawaikapuokalani Hewett’s Hula Intensive.
Perhaps the most colorful of Moloka‘i’s creative souls are Jonathan and Daphne Socher.
They stumbled on this outpost island twenty years ago and decided to open a business
that it certainly lacked - a design shop for making kites. Today the Big Wind Kite
Factory still inhabits the same building and gift shop it originally established in
the mini-town of Maunaloa, headquarters of Moloka‘i Ranch and the Sheraton Moloka‘i.
The Sochers travel to Indonesia every year to add oriental design ideas to their
colorful flying concepts.
For two decades the Sochers have made good on their belief that Moloka‘i visitors
eventually, inevitably discover the essence of the island - which has something to
do with the wind and more to do with play.
Says Jonathan - who is as big-bearded as Saint Nicholas - "Moloka‘i is for people
who don’t need anybody to tell them how to relax."
In short, keep your eye on the creative people of Moloka‘i. The island has great
power and many teachings. People who know Hawai‘i are watching Moloka‘i because
this island has something peculiar and genuine to offer. Its residents are
independent, honest folk, proud of their island home. They create in the spirit
of its wild isolation.
Article Courtesy of the Molokai Visitors Association
See also:
More Molokai Articles
All Hawaii Articles
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Related Links
Molokai Island - Main Menu
The Islands of Hawaii
Forum for Visitors to Hawaii
Hawaii Travel Newsletter
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