Superstar artists like Yayoi Kusama and Lee Mingwei will appear in the inaugural Honolulu Biennial, alongside a wealth of Hawaiian artists, who make up fully a third of the artist roster, which the organizers released today.
Curatorial director Fumio Nanjo (director of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum), and curator Ngahiraka Mason (formerly of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki), made the selection for the show, titled “Middle of Now | Here.”
Running March 8–May 8, the show will take place at various venues throughout the city of about 375,000, centered on the condominium development Ward Village and, in novel fashion, a former location for the athletics retailer Sports Authority. Other venues include City Hall, the Foster Botanical Garden, and the Honolulu Museum of Art.
The list of artists and their home territories follows:
Vernon Ah Kee, Australia
Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, Australia/Philippines
Andrew Binkley, Hawaiʻi
Drew Broderick, Hawaiʻi
Jane Chang Mi, Hawaiʻi /USA
Kaili Chun, Hawaiʻi
Sean Connelly, Hawaiʻi
Beatrice Glow, US
Brett Graham, New Zealand
Marcus Hanalei Marzan, Hawaiʻi
Choi Jeong Hwa, Korea
Kathy Jetnil Kijiner, Marshall Islands
Mohammad Kazem, UAE
Yuki Kihara, New Zealand
Charlton Kupa’a Hee, Hawaiʻi
Yayoi Kusama, Japan
Al Laguenro, Hawaiʻi
Alexander Lee, Tahiti
Les Filter Feeders, Hawaiʻi
Mariquita Micki Davis, US
Eko Nugroho, Indonesia
Fiona Pardington, New Zealand
Lisa Reihana, New Zealand
Chris Ritson, Hawaiʻi
Michelle L. Schwengel-Regala, Hawaiʻi
Greg Semu, New Zealand/Samoa
John Vea, New Zealand/Tonga
Zhan Wang, China
Lynne Yamamoto, US
Ken and Julia Yonetani, Australia/New Zealand