Hawaiian Hall Panel Discussion Airs on ‘Ōlelo
A panel discussion about the Hawaiian Hall Renovation Project at Bishop Museum will air on ‘Ōlelo, Channel 53, at 7 p.m. on Thursdays, July 19 and 26, 2007. The program is one in the series, Ho’oulu Lahui Aloha – To Raise A Beloved Nation Round Table , and is sponsored by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs which is a major donor to the Hawaiian Hall Renovation Project. Panelists include Dr. Isabella Abbott, Chair of Bishop Museum’s Collection Committee and Wilder Professor of Botany Emerita, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa; Glenn Mason, President of Mason Architects, Inc.; and DeSoto Brown, Archivist and Hawaiian Hall Renovation Project committee member.
Computer access for OHA/OLELO programs is available for those who live on the Neighbor Islands and do not receive Channel 53. To access OLELO to view the current Ho’oulu Lahui Aloha – To Raise A Beloved Nation Round Table: Go to http://.www.olelo.org < http://.www.olelo.org/> at 7:00 p.m. on the date of showing. Click on Viewers. Click on NATV Channel 53.
For more than a century, some of the most sacred and beloved treasures of the Hawaiian people have been housed in Hawaiian Hall. Completed in 1903, this building complex, with its volcanic stone exterior and extensive use of native koa, is considered a masterwork of the late Victorian museum design. Over time, however, the building’s historic interior had deteriorated, and its exhibits, which reflected different years of museological, intellectual, and interpretive approaches, had become outmoded.
In July 2006, Bishop Museum launched a $21 million restoration project aimed at restoring the Hall to its architectural glory, while at the same time installing elevators and air conditioning to ensure modern comforts. The project will also modernize the Hall’s interpretation, bringing multiple voices and a Native Hawaiian perspective to bear on Bishop Museum ’s treasures. Hawaiian Hall will convey the essential values, beliefs, complexity, and achievements of Hawaiian culture, and look at Hawaiian history through Hawaiian eyes. A flexible display system will enable the Museum to exhibit more of its fragile and beautiful artifacts in a setting that emphasizes their power, the place they were created, and the people who revered them.
The museum has brought a diverse group of organizations and individuals together to assist with the Hawaiian Hall Restoration effort, including Hawaiian practitioners, artists, scholars, and leaders. Project manager Fray Heath of Heath Construction Services, and Architect Glenn Mason of Mason Architects, Inc. bring their extensive experience in the renovation of historic structures in Hawai‘i, while world-renowned museum planning and design firm Ralph Appelbaum Associates guides the effort on the exhibits design.
Financial support has been provided by the State of Hawai‘i, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kamehameha Schools, the Frear Eleemosynary Trust, the J. M. Long, Vera M. Long, Geist, Cooke, Strong, and Atherton, Bank of Hawaii, A&B and Hawai‘i Community Foundations, as well as many private donors.
Once completed the Hawaiian Hall restoration project will give Hawai‘i something that has never existed before—access to a record number of the Museum’s deep and rich collections, together with native interpretation, layered in meaning and authentic in voice. Watch for the grand opening in Summer 2009.
For more information about the Hawaiian Hall Renovation Project Panel Discussion on Olelo, call (808) 847-3511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.
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