Native Hawaiian artist Meleanna Aluli Meyer stands on the third floor of Honolulu Hale on a Wednesday, overlooking her large-scale art piece. She takes out her sketchbook and begins to draw. Her eyes are fixated on the artwork as she cracks a smile.
“It’s a real treat because I’m always down there in the trenches in my life, on the ground with kids, folks incarcerated or with organizations,” she said. “It feels wonderful to have the perspective of how large it is.”
Meyer’s piece ‘Umeke Lāʻau (Culture Medicine) is an 8-foot-tall, 22-foot-wide bowl large enough for people to stand in.
The giant bowl has pewa, butterfly-shaped patches often used in woodwork. It’s used to seal the crack in the ‘umeke bowl.
Her artwork is the pinnacle of the 2025 Hawai‘i Triennial’s theme ALOHA NŌ, the state's largest thematic exhibit of contemporary art.
Meyer was inspired by the theme because instead of the Hawaiian diacritical mark kahakō over the “o,” it’s replaced with pewa. She said the patch is a symbol of repairing what is broken.
“The directive is heal thyself,” she said. “Heal what you can make a difference in. Repair the environment. This is also a metaphor for the Earth.”
There’s a pewa above the entrance into the ‘umeke. Meyer said it’s a reminder to people that the artwork is an ahu, or altar.
The art piece is made of African mahogany and other woods. Outside the bowl is the 1897 Kūʻē Petitions. Thousands of names of Native Hawaiians and Hawai‘i citizens left their mark opposing Hawai‘i’s annexation by the United States.
The piece is so large that Meyer said it can fit over 45 Kamehameha Schools students. Visitors from the Bishop of the Episcopal Church and students from the University of Hawai‘i have also come to see the ‘umeke.
“The whole point is we all have work to do,” she said. “The object of this work or the inspiration is ho‘opono. Ho‘opono has to do with doing the work to heal and to come back into balance.”
‘Umeke Lāʻau will be on display at Honolulu Hale from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. until May 4 before traveling to Kapolei on O‘ahu and Lahaina on Maui.
