HoMA's Arts of Hawai‘i Gallery to close for reinstallation

As a part of an ongoing strategy to reenvision the museum’s gallery spaces, HoMA  will be temporarily closing Gallery 29 (which houses the renowned Historic Arts of Hawai‘i collection) beginning on Thursday, April 21, for about two months.

“This important part of our permanent collection is pivotal to the museum’s overarching responsibility to showcase and steward high caliber artwork with ties to Hawai‘i,” said Director of Curatorial Affairs Catherine Whitney. “While it’s sad to remove this gallery from view even temporarily, we are excited by the long-range prospects of introducing new site-specific installations and bold, new contemporary art from local and international artists alike.”

The John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Arts of Hawaiʻi Gallery has not been updated for a number of years. It will be renovated in two phases, starting this week with buildouts needed to make room for updates, collection refinement, and to prepare the gallery for future modifications. The second phase will include a more dramatic reinstallation co-curated by HoMA’s Curator of Textiles and Historic Arts of Hawai‘i Tory Laitila and a soon-to-be-announced local contemporary curator on contract with the museum to help design a refreshed gallery experience.

“This is an opportunity for us to reinterpret art from Hawaiʻi and present it in conversation with other works and issues of our time and place—making both more impactful to audiences and our community,” said Laitila. “I’m excited that weʻll offer greater preparation and display areas for contemporary works alongside traditional arts, and the opportunity for historic and contemporary art curators to work collaboratively with artists and the arts of Hawai‘i.”

“HoMA is fortunate to have a near-encyclopedic range of cultures and art from around the world continually on view, even during necessary gallery renovations,” said Whitney.

“Some smaller museums across the country are forced to close their entire campus down for a single gallery reinstallation. Our visitors will have the rest of HoMA’s amazing collection to see and engage with during this temporary closure.”

Stay tuned for an announcement about Gallery 29’s phase one reopening, and more on future plans for the space later in the year.