Aloha mai kakou! This podcast series is kicking off with four artists featured in the Hawaiʻi Triennial 2022, "Pacific Century: E Hoʻomau no Moananuiakea." HT22 continues through May 8, 2022 at seven venues in Honolulu, so weʻve got to get cooking!
Today, we meet featured artist, Beatriz Santiago Munoz, who lives and works in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She exhibits her art internationally. The works are primarily video and installations, dealing with place, politics, history, memory. Munoz works inside and through issues that Honolulu and San Juan have in common, including gentrification, militarization, changing communities, and wealth disparity.
Munoz made "Gosila," for example, in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2018. Munoz mixes news of devastation with uprooted trees and demolished homes which end up being visual metaphors for what happened.The power grid collapsed, leaving many without food, water, or electricity, as a history of corruption and lack of investment was laid bare.
Munoz keeps her camera on what the people of Puerto Rico went through. Then, the slow human process of rebuilding. The video is projected through a fragment of lens found near Maunabo, Puerto Rico.
In the HT22 installation, Munoz shows Post-Military Cinema, 2014, a rumination surrounding an abandoned cinema on a defunct U.S. Naval base. Otros usos, 2016, is shot from an old fuel dock for battleships, now used by fishermen. Their hands tell the story of their rugged days. Ojos para mis enemigos, 2014; and Black Beach/ Horse/ Camp/ The Dead/ Forces, 2016, are also there.
Multiple giant screens juxtapose images in the mind at once: a horse grazes quietly, then turn a corner, waters churn in widescreen on the left, while on the right, a manʻs gnarled hands gather fuel for a blaze. Itʻs a tactile, breathing world that can be absorbed more than deciphered.
Munoz has exhibited at the Tate Modern, the Whitney Biennial, the Guggenheim Museum, and other international venues. Right now, her work is featured in a refreshing outpost of the Hawaiʻi Triennial 2022, at Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki. Go Diamond Head on the third floor, on the mauka side.
Youʻll see a cheery exterior and glimpse Momoyo Torimitsuʻs Pink Bunny. Inside, youʻll find Munozʻs videos, Lawrence Sewardʻs sly newspaper/lemonade stand, and in a viewing room, Hong Kong artist Zheng Bo shows tender, sexualized explorations of the forest. Thereʻs VR too, of course, Miao Ying hints at a brighter, less structured world. Others, including Herman Piʻikea Clark, also on view there. I ended up spending a couple of very satisfying hours.
Please local people brave Waikiki. I went there last night -- after the show closed, itʻs only open 12-7. Today, someone dropped me off while they did errands in town. That strategy may work for you! Otherwise, from what I can figure, itʻs 1 hour free parking with a $10 purchase validation or $12 per hour with no RHC validation.
Next up, Friday, I think! Richard Bell, his installation/intervention, Embassy, a wry comment on statelessness---is going up at the Hawaiiʻi State Art Museum May 7 and 8 for the Hawaiʻi Triennial 2022.
Beatriz Santiago Munoz podcast song list:
Super Groupers. Smoke Signals featuring Exile.
https://zenburecords.bandcamp.com/track/smoke-signals-featuring-exile
Ohtoro. Leafbrella with Kizuna
https://ohtoro.bandcamp.com/track/leafbrella-with-kizuna
Maryanne Ito. Double Talk
https://open.spotify.com/track/5A8tr3QGKdZjVSXjhyV11Z
Ohtoro. (Kiva) featuring YB by Cooki3 + Ohtoro.
https://zenburecords.bandcamp.com/track/kiva-feat-yb
Super Groupers. Shine Thru featuring Punahele. Learn to Fly.
https://music.apple.com/us/album/shine-thru-feat-punahele/1132411809?i=1132411987
A hui hou!
