In August 2023, the bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Kapiʻolani Park toppled off its base. The sculpture was badly damaged and broken in several places.
The city initially wasn't sure if it was just high winds that brought it down — it happened the same day as the Lahaina wildfire. The artist charged with restoring the sculpture suspects that vandalism played a part as well.
The Conversation caught up with local sculptor Kim Duffett at the park while he was putting the final touches on the Gandhi art piece. He has had a nearly decade-long relationship with the statue, which is why he cares that it be properly restored.
"The right arm was busted off. His staff was busted in multiple places. And his face had been damaged, and his glasses had been all mangled up, as well as multiple cracks on the legs and the body from the fall," Duffett said. "Kind of a Humpty Dumpty thing."
There were also hammer marks on the face, and part of Gandhi's staff was missing.
Duffett first got involved with the statue through his musical performances at local Gandhi Day celebrations.
About a decade ago, he noticed how dark the patina had gotten, so much so that the statue disappeared into the shadows.
"Having done patina on many sculptures, my own and others, I knew immediately that what it needed was a change of patina. So I suggested that to the group and then, with Marsha Joyner and Adela Chu, we formed the Friends of the Gandhi Statue Waikiki, LLC, and offered a gift to the city of changing the patina and putting some informational plaques on the pedestal that would talk about Gandhi and share his story," Duffett told HPR.
He then reached out to the original artist to get permission to restore the statue — and raised $15,000 after receiving the go-ahead from the city.
"The whole idea was to give it a light terracotta patina that reflects light better and shows the shape, during the day and during the night and just stands out. And immediately once it was done, we started having people come," he said. "It had been there for 26 years, and they hadn't even realized that it was there."
Duffett intends to get the statue back on its pedestal around the end of April. He expects a rededication ceremony to happen soon after.
"I invite everyone to come and see the piece again with a fresh viewpoint," Duffett added. "There's a great connection of philosophy and empathy and heart that, you know, is reflected in aloha, in being pono and respectful, in working things out, hoʻoponopono — that's very much where Gandhi was coming from."
This interview aired on The Conversation on April 19, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
