Date: Thursday, May 31, 2018
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Ohia Cafeteria

KCC’s International Cafe and the Hawaiian Historical Society presents a lecture on Picturing the Pāʻū Rider by Healoha Johnston. Lecture is free and open to the public.

While much has been documented about the paniolo, or the Hawaiian cowboy, few authors have considered the pā‘ū rider—the horsewomen who wore the dramatic skirt for which they are named—and their inclusion in celebrating 19th-century Hawaiian identity. This presentation traces the portrayal of the pā‘ū rider in literary and visual art forms, and makes connections between the pā‘ū riders and expressions of aloha ‘āina, also referred to as Hawaiian nationalism, with a particular focus on photography during King Kalākaua’s governance.

Healoha Johnston is Interim Director of Curatorial Affairs and Curator of the Arts of Hawai‘i, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Her research interests include: exploring transdisciplinary approaches to contemporary art; and locating connections between historic visual culture and contemporary art, with a focus on the socio-political underpinnings that inform those connections.