PILINA: My Relationships are my Heritage and my Wealth Exhibit
PILINA is a retrospective multimedia exhibition developed around the broad theme Our Cultural Wealth - Kateira bon kaubwaira (Kiribati), Men ko bwinnid (RMI), Kastom, Kalja mo tradisen (Vanuatu), Masuru (Vella, Sol Is), Koloa (Tonga), Measina (Samoa) and Taonga (Aotearoa, NZ). The exhibition commemorates the 50th Anniversary of FestPAC which is recognized as the world’s largest cultural celebration of indigenous Pacific Islanders. The exhibition includes a photographic exhibition, ephemera and select cultural heritage objects. It highlights the value and significance of cultural heritage and indigenous and local knowledge as critical enablers for resilience building and futures thinking to achieve our sustainable development aspirations.
The title of the exhibition, Pilina in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian Language) reinforces this idea of our relationships as the source of our heritage, and by extension, our legacy and wealth. Pilina means relationships, closeness, and togetherness drawing from the phrase Ko Kākou Pilina which is an inclusive reference to our collective relationships and the values associated with a sense of community. This aligns with the first iteration of the 50th anniversary exhibition held in Fiji, in 2022, under the title our relationships are our heritage and wealth, Na Wekaqu Noqu iYau Vosa Vaka Viti (indigenous Fijian language). The simple title Pilina, draws on the ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, phrase He Waiwai Nui Ko Kākou Pilina which carries the same meaning.
The retrospective multimedia exhibition captures a series of just under eighty photographs clustered in seven thematic areas which speak to the essence of the festival – People of the Sea, Stories through Dance, Cultural Wealth, Our People, Portraits, Identity and Behind the Scenes.
Read more: https://www.festpachawaii.org/pilina