The Kama’aina Gallery contains works of art that have special significance in capturing themes and values important to Hawaii’s cultural pillars, their celebration and its legacy.
Many works of art in the Rapozo Gallery and the inventory of the larger collection were acquired with themes important to Hawaii in mind. The Kama’aina Gallery will updated, from time to time, to add images of works of art. The literal translation of kama’aina from Hawaiian is child of the land. The term is often used to denote someone born or ordinarily resident in Hawaii. The items in this collection are viewed with a deep sense of stewardship, in part shaped by the concept of malama, a Hawaiian word capturing the values, duties and sentiment around notions of care and stewardship.
We begin with three works of art that are vivid in colour. The light of the great Hawaiian sun reflects upon the land and sea and lingers everywhere in every colour imaginable, and the light slices the prism of rain and mist and the resulting rainbow reminds of us the colour embedded in light, water and life. Each work conveys a great celebration of life, of stewardship and struggle, and of the oneness of man with the earthly and the spiritual world. Here are three works of art: one of the land, one of the sea, and one of the heavens; ka ‘aina, ka kai, and ka lani.