1st Indigenous performing arts conference hosted at UH Mānoa
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Hawaiian language production, He Leo Aloha captured eight national awards in 2022.
Auʻa ʻIa earned a historic invitation to perform Off-Broadway in 2020.
Hoʻoilina debuted in 2022 and performed in Hawaiian, Pidgin, English and ʻōlelo māhū (Queer creole)
Link to video and sound (details below): https://go.hawaii.edu/nQc
An innovative conference dedicated to celebrating the artistic expression of Native Hawaiian and Indigenous communities will debut at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa this spring. Spearheaded by the pioneering Indigenous performance research institute ʻAhahui Noiʻi Noʻeau ʻŌiwi (ANNO), the Noiʻi Nowelo conference March 14–15, seeks to broaden understanding and enrich contributions to the emerging field of Indigenous performance studies. ANNO is housed under the UH Mānoa Hawaiian Theatre program.
In ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) Noiʻi Nowelo can be understood as a deep and investigative delving, as a researcher may seek deep knowledge. The conference will bring together UH experts from diverse academic and performance backgrounds, and artist-scholars from around the Pacific. The two-day event within and surrounding Kennedy Theatre at UH Mānoa will feature speakers, panels, workshops and performances, providing groundbreaking insights and opportunities for global connections and relationships.
“An inaugural conference on Hawaiian and Indigenous performance is the centerpiece in establishing our research institute, which serves our mission to uplift and document Hawaiian and Indigenous performing arts,” said Baker. “The theme of the conference is also the title of ANNO’s forthcoming publication, Noi‘i Nowelo – A Survey of Hawaiian and Indigenous Performance, that features thirty contributors from Ko Hawai‘i Pae ‘Āina (Hawaiʻi) and Oceania.”
Multidisciplinary fusion
Noiʻi Nowelo aims to cultivate dynamic conversations and collaborations from across various academic disciplines including American studies, Cinematic arts, Curriculum studies, English, Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language, Theatre and Dance, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Secure a spot
The Noiʻi Nowelo conference is open to invited participants, member faculty and registered guests. Timely registration is advised for those interested in attending.
For more go to ANNO’s website.
More on ANNO
ANNO is part of a strategic investment initiative awarded by the UH Mānoa Office of the Provost. It comprises three maʻawe or paths; scholarship and publication, archive and curriculum, and outreach and recruitment.
The upcoming conference represents a new chapter in the institute’s journey which aligns with its core mission of collectively exploring the foundations of performance within Hawaiian and Indigenous communities through community-based and artist-led scholarship. Since its inception, ANNO has cultivated relationships with Kanaka Maoli and Indigenous artists in Oceania through guest artists residencies and workshops like the Tito Waiata or haku mele residency with Māori recording artists Tawaroa Kawana and Sarah Hanita-Paki. ANNO has also traveled to Aotearoa or New Zealand to participate in the Kia Mau Festival in Wellington, NZ. ANNO also collaborates with Hawaiian immersion teachers offering professional development workshops and hana keaka curriculum for the immersion classroom.
ʻŌLELO HAWAIʻI VERSION
Mālama ʻia ka ʻaha kūkā mua loa pili i ka hana no‘eau he ʻōiwi ma UH Mānoa
E mālama ʻia ana kahi ʻaha kūkā kamahaʻo pili i nā hana noʻeau, nā loina hōʻikeʻike, a me ka hana keaka e like me ka mea i ʻike ʻia ma ke kaiāulu Kanaka Maoli a me nā kaiāulu ʻōiwi nō hoʻi. Mālama ʻia hoʻi ma ke Kulanui o Hawaiʻi ma Mānoa i ka lā 14 a me ka 15 o Malaki. Na ka ʻAhahui Noiʻi Noʻeau ʻŌiwi: Research Institute of Indigenous Performance (ANNO) i hoʻokumu i ua paha kūkā nei i ala e hoʻomohala aʻe ai i ka hoʻomaopopo ʻia ʻana o ka lehulehu i ka nui a me ka laulā o nā hanana i pili i ia kumuhana ʻo Indigenous Performance Studies o ke kupu ʻana maila. Aia hoʻi ʻo ANNO i ka malu o ka mahele Hawaiian Theatre o UH Mānoa.
I ka hahai ʻana i ka manaʻo o Noiʻi Nowelo, ka ʻimi ʻana hoʻi i ʻike kūhohonu, e hoʻākoakoa ʻia mai ana kēia ʻaha kūkā i ka poʻe akeakamai o UH Mānoa a me ka Pakipika mai loko mai o nā mahele ʻike a me nā hana noʻeau he nui wale. Ma ia mau lā he ʻelua, e mālama ʻia he mau hōʻikeʻike, haʻiʻōlelo, pānela, hālāwai hoʻonaʻauao, ʻaha mele, a he hana keakanō hoʻi, i pūnana e hua aʻe ai nā manaʻo kelakela a me nā pilina e kaʻa ana ā puni ka honua.
“An inaugural conference on Hawaiian and Indigenous performance is the centerpiece in establishing our research institute, which serves our mission to uplift and document Hawaiian and Indigenous performing arts,” said Baker. “The theme of the conference is also the title of ANNO’s forthcoming publication, Noi‘i Nowelo – A Survey of Hawaiian and Indigenous Performance, that features thirty contributors from Ko Hawai‘i Pae ‘Āina (Hawaiʻi) and Oceania.”
He huina o nā mahele ʻike like ʻole
ʻO kahi pahuhopu nui o Noiʻi Nowelo ʻo ka hoʻonui ʻana i ke kūkākūkā pū ʻana a me ka hana pū ʻana o nā ʻano mahele ʻike like ʻole, e laʻa hoʻi ʻo American studies, Cinematic arts, Curriculum studies, English, Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language, Theatre and Dance, and Women, Gender, a me Sexuality Studies.
E kāinoa mai
No Noiʻi Nowelo, kono ‘ia nā mea hana no‘eau ‘ōiwi, nā polopeka hoʻokumu o ANNO, a me nā mea kipa i kāinoa mai ma mua o ka ʻaha kūkā. Paipai ʻia ka ʻeleu ma ke kāinoa ʻana mai.
I mau mea hou aku e eʻe aku i ke kaha pūnaewele o ANNO.
He mau mea hou aku no ANNO
ʻO ANNO kekahi o nā papahana Strategic Investment Initiative a ke Ke‘ena o ka Provost o UH Mānoa. He ʻekolu ona maʻawe: ka noi‘ina, ka ho‘omōhala ha‘awina, a me ka hana kaiāulu.
ʻIke ʻia ma kēia ʻaha kūkā he au hou kēia no ANNO a no ka hoʻokō ʻia ʻana o ko ia ʻahahui mau pahuhopu kumu, ʻo ia hoʻi ka ʻimi noiʻi ʻana i ia mea he hana keaka a he hana noʻeau ma loko o ke kaiāulu Hawaiʻi a me nā kaiāulu ʻōiwi nō hoʻi, ma loko hoʻi o nā loina o kēlā au kēia au. He noiʻi nowelo ia hana i paepae ʻia e nā manaʻo ʻōiwi a e alakaʻi ʻia ana e ka poʻe e mālama mai ana i ia mau loina. Mai ka ho‘omaka ‘ia ‘ana o ANNO, ua hoʻokumu a ua mālama ʻia nā pilina ma waena o ka poʻe hana noʻeau Kanaka Maoli a me ka poʻe hana noʻeau ʻōiwi o ka Pakipika ma o ka hoʻokipa ʻana i ia poʻe akamai a me nā hālawai hoʻonaʻauao like ʻole, e like me Tito Waiata a i ʻole ka papahana haku mele me Tawaroa Kawana lāua ʻo Sarah Hanita-Paki, he mau puʻukani a haku mele Māori. Eia kekahi, ua huakaʻi aku nā lālā o ANNO i Aotearoa no ke Kia Mau Festival ma Pōneke, Aotearoa. A kākoʻo nō hoʻi ʻo ANNO i nā kula kāiapuni ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi ma o ka mālama ʻana i nā papahana ho‘onui ‘ike no nā kumu a me ka hoʻomohala ʻana i ka haʻawina hana keaka no nā lumi papa kula kaiāpuni.
B-ROLL: (1 minute, 32 seconds)
File footage from various UH Mānoa Hawaiian Theatre productions
SOUNDBITES:
Tammy Hailiʻōpua Baker/Director, UH Mānoa Hawaiian Theatre
(14 seconds)
“I truly believe that as Indigenous people our performance practices is the foundation of who we are. It is our moʻolelo. It houses our understanding of who we are as a people.”
(11 seconds)
“It is our genealogical connections. It reminds us of the ʻāina that we come from and how we relate to that ʻāina and what our value systems are.”
(32 seconds)
“From this conference we will also produce and publish an anthology that surveys Hawaiian and Indigenous performance. All of our contributors, many will be presenting at the conference and this is a way for us to really leave our mark and encourage further conversations, further collaborations and really the endurance and sustainability of our performance practices.”