Nana I Ke Kumu, Pay Attention to the Source
Michele Zalopany
November 3– December 8, 2024
THE COMMONS GALLERY, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
As I was led to inform myself by my face and curiosity, I am hoping that by putting more images of an older Hawaiian reality out into the world, I may provoke interest in the true history of the Hawaiian people and their land, and thus chip away at the false narrative that overwhelms most peoples’ current perceptions.
-Michele Zalopany
Artist Michele Zalopany’s extraordinary works reference photographs from the past: both those from various historical archives and of her own family. The medium of photography has been present in Hawai‘i since the 1840s. Much has been written of photography’s articulations with settler-colonialism, in which the camera’s lens becomes the locus of the colonial gaze. Michele Zalopany’s work speaks to a parallel, under-researched, but profoundly significant history of photography, in which Indigenous subjects actively participated in the production of photographs, using the medium as a way to control their representation on a global stage. Zalopany’s images stand as important acts of visual sovereignty. They not only reclaim, but actively re-code, and even re-activate Indigenous histories and knowledges. As objects that layer time, ’āina, and ’ohana, Zalopany’s images speak to the profound interconnections of Hawai‘i’s pasts and futures.
-Heather Waldroup
Kanaka ʻŌiwi artist, Michele Zalopany spent her formative years in Detroit and Hawai‘i. Her photo-based work is included in over twenty-five permanent international collections including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Eli Broad Collection, The USB collection, The Walker Art Center, The Carnegie Institute, and others. She has been in many notable exhibition venues including the Whitney Biennial, Gagosian Gallery, NY, and Esso Gallery, NY. She has been a guest lecturer at the American Academy in Rome, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Middlebury College, and others. She was a Visiting Lecturer of Visual Arts at Harvard University from 2007 to 2008 and in 2009. From 2001 to 2014, she was a Professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Michele Zalopany lives and works in New York City.
The exhibit is curated by Heather Waldroup, Professor of Art History and Visual Culture at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and Debra Drexler, Interim Director of the Galleries and Museum. This exhibition and residency are supported by the Admiral Residency in Contemporary Pacific Art, and the SEED Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access and Success Grant.
Gallery Walkthrough
Location: Commons Gallery, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM)
Date: November 3, 2024 from 1:00 – 2:00 PM
Opening Reception
Location: Commons Gallery, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM)
Date: November 3,, 2024, Sunday, 2:00–4:00 PM
Panel Discussion
Location: Art Building, Room 101, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM)
Date: November 7, 2024, Thursday, 5:00–6:00 PM Michele Zalopany, Heather Waldroup Professor, Art History and Visual Culture, Appalachia State University, and Emily Cornish, Phd student University of Michigan (19th Century Hawaiian Visual Culture)
THE COMMONS GALLERY is located on the ground floor of The Art Building. From Dole Street, take East-West Road, turn left to Correa Road, and then turn right for the Art Building.
Hours & Admission
Tuesday–Friday, & Sunday, 12–4 p.m.
Closed Saturdays, Mondays, spring break (March 18-22), and state holidays.
Free admission. Donations are appreciated.
Parking is free on Sundays. Parking fees may apply during weekdays.
For more information, please contact 808.956.6888 and gallery@hawaii.edu