KŪKULU
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ABOUT
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Kūkulu - The Pillars of Mauna ā Wākea is a traveling exhibition featuring: Art, Merchandise, Music and Messages of the Mauna Kea Movement. Kūkulu serves as an platform to teach, to share and to inspire the community to stand as pillars for this sacred mountain through visual arts, workshops, presentations, events, and gatherings.
MKEA has committed to a community vision of creating an unique, interactive, traveling art exhibit Kūkulu; to be a pillar to set the tone and the vibration that is encompassed in the Hawaiian values, and the ʻIke Kupuna or ancestral teachings, that will inspire while educate. Programs offered feature talk story sessions and presentations with cultural practitioners, kiaʻi or water protectors, educators and community members sharing experiences with Native Hawaiians, local communities, residents and visitors alike.
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The vision and design of the space is modeled after the slopes of Mauna Kea where the stance to protect the sacred mountain took place. The space serves as a puʻu honua, a sanctuary, a hālau, training center, a kauhale, a gathering place The piko or foundational center of the exhibit space includes an ahu or traditional altar and actual art pieces owned and utilized by the kiaʻi or protectors. All art pieces have been carefully selected as each piece embodies the best and the highest values, skills and efforts of the Mauna Kea Movement. Each step of creating the exhibit was executed with appropriate prayers, chants, offerings and protocols.
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1) Educating and inspiring the community through workshops, presentations, events, gatherings
2) Serving as a template for interactive exhibits focused on the community and the arts
3) Embodying the spiritual and cultural pillar for the implementation of protocol and conduct as witnessed on the mountain through a re-creation of the movement in exhibit form.
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First exhibit
Did you know that a pair of boots inspired the creation of KŪKULU? The boots that stood on the mauna and for aloha ʻāina until the soles fell off deserved an exhibit, and so did the kiaʻi who came together to reclaim our indigenous lands and protect our Hawaiian culture.
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Currently On Display
#26: Kūkulu Kū ʻAʻahu - Molokaʻi
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Past Exhibits
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#1: A HeARTfelt Tribute to the Pillars of Mauna a Wākea
Hāmākua, Hawaiʻi
Opened March 10, 2018
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#2: We Are Mauna Kea
Honokaʻa, Hawaiʻi
Opened 2018
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#3: We Are Mauna Kea
Kona, Hawaiʻi
Opened March 23, 2019
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#4: Nā Kiʻi Kūkulu/Nā Kiaʻi Kūkulu
Honokaʻa, Hawaiʻi
Opened January 12, 2020
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#5: Pillars of Mauna a Wākea
Mōʻiliʻili, Oʻahu
Opened January 2020
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#6: The Pillars of Mauna Kea (The Key Project)
Kāneʻohe, Oʻahu
Opened 2020
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#7: Hoʻokupu
Hilo, Hawaiʻi
Opened April 3-May 28, 2021
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#8: Kūkulu O Kohala
North Kohala, Hawaiʻi
Opened 2022
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#9: Protecting Mauna Kea
Santa Cruz, California
Opened November 2022, reopened January 2023
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#10: Wilebo
Davis, California
Opened October 2023
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#11: Pillars Standing Together
NYC, New York
Opened May 10-December 30, 2023
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#12: Lisjan to Mauna Kea
Oakland, California
Opened June 2023
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#13: When Nur Speak
Redding, California
Opened June 2023
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#13.5: Kūkulu
San Francisco, California
Opened August 4, 2023
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#14: Pūlama Iā Waiʻanae
Waiʻanae, Hawaiʻi
Opened August 2023
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#15: From Huchiun to Mauna Kea
Berkeley, California
Opened October 2023
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#16: Enduring Action Across Ocean, Mountain, and Land
Santa Barbara, California
Opened January 20, 2024
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#17: Aloha ʻĀina Hoʻopulapula
Nānākuli, Hawaiʻi
Opened April 2, 2024
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#18: Hoʻomana "Empowered"
Mānoa, Hawaiʻi
Opened May 2024
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#19: He Wai He Mana
Kapolei, Hawaiʻi
Opened July 31- September 30, 2024
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#21: Behold the Pillars of Mauna Kea
Long Beach, California
Opened May 3-Sept. 28, 2025
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#22: Protecting Sacred Places Together We Stand
San Francisco, California
Opened June 16 - July 31, 2025
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#23: Kūkulu: Pilina
Redlands, California
Opened September 11, 2025
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#24: Art, Resilience, Resistance
Berkeley, California
Opened September 24, 2025
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#25: Kūkulu
New York, New York
Opened at Tatou Festival in September 2025
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#26: Kūkulu Kū ʻAʻAhu
Molokaʻi, Hawaiʻi
Opened February 2026
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#27: Kūkulu
Berkeley, California
Opened March 18, 2026
