Report of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts to the Legislature
S.C.R. 97, S.R. 87, H.R. 119 (2022) Requesting the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts to report information relating to expenditures from the works of art special fund for the curation and preservation of Native Hawaiian art. Full report can be downloaded as a PDF: sfca.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SFCA_Report-to-Legislature-SCR97.pdf
Introduction
The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) has a long history of supporting Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners and artists. Support varies from when the agency helped foster the origin of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, supporting Kumu Hula to perpetuate hula and chant, support of slack key guitar and Ka Mahiole (Ulana ʻIe), to the current support of Kapa and Hula Kiʻi through art acquisitions, exhibitions and public programming. This report sheds light on the current practices of the SFCA relating to Native Hawaiian arts and culture.
In Fiscal Year 2020, in an effort to better understand the SFCA’s level of support for Native Hawaiian arts and culture through the Works of Art Special Fund, the SFCA contracted Native Hawaiian curators Drew Kahuʻāina Broderick, Kaili Chun, and Kapulani Landgraf to research the SFCA’s history. The essay, exhibition, and video documentary are an introspective look into the exclusionary Western system the SFCA was created under. Following the report, the SFCA has increased efforts to support Native Hawaiian arts and culture through contracts, acquisitions, exhibitions, and programming.