The final installation of POW! WOW!'s three part project with Hokulea and the Polynesian Voyaging Society was a mural created by Kamea Hadar and the young artists of the POW! WOW! School of Art and 808 Urban. Located in the heart of Kakaako on Oahu, home of POW! WOW! Hawaii, the mural depicts Papa Mau Piailug, a master navigator from the island of Satawal, Micronesia. Pialug helped to teach navigators of the Hokulea the art of non-instrumental way finding. He was chosen by his grandfather to learn the art of navigation when he was a only a few years old, and in 1976 when he guided Hokulea on its maiden voyage to Tahiti, he was one of only six navigators of his kind remaining in the world. He has since helped to revive this knowledge, training five Hawaiian navigators to master status in his lifetime, ensuring the survival of the art form. These techniques will be used by Hokulea navigators over the next three and a half years, during which Hokulea and its sister canoe Hikianalia will attempt to sail around the world using nothing but the waves, winds, sun and stars to guide them. Searching through photos of Hokulea’s maiden voyage, Kamea Hadar discovered an image of Papa Mau staring towards the horizon with an intense look on his face. The photo immediately spoke to him as a possibility for the main image of the mural. While sitting with Uncle Billy Richards, an original crew member from the Hokulea’s maiden voyage, Uncle Billy shared with Kamea something Mau had once said: “To be a navigator, you have to be fierce.” Kamea then showed Uncle Billy the photo he had chosen. Uncle Billy smiled and said, “That's the one, that's the look of someone that would get you home.” - Produced by - Mikey Inouye Directed by - Vincent Ricafort Edited by - Reynolds Barney Sound - Christopher Ahn Written by - Mikey Inouye, Vincent Ricafort, and Noel Nicholas Sponsored by - OLUKAI
