Exhibition: As waters merge – swaying waves beckoning us closer

This exhibition is part of a long-term curatorial inquiry that looks to the Pacific Ocean as a guide for understanding the fundamental way the ocean influences our pleasure, joy, romance, love, movement, and togetherness. The act of standing at the edge of land and gazing out at the sea teaches us about how we understand these vital elements of self as constantly becoming, never stagnant. The ocean proves to us over and over how we are forever changing, as we evolve within interconnected ecosystems. These systems then become present in how we gather and build communities.

As waters merge – swaying waves beckoning us closer engages deeply with the role of joy and pleasure within the ecosystems at the edges of the Pacific Ocean. The included artworks visualize the pleasure found within curated spaces for joy, capturing moments of coming together, prioritizing leisure, love, and joyous future worlds. Through contemporary art and poetry, this exhibition brings forward expressions of ecosystems from around the Pacific Ocean in order to understand the distinct elements at play when we consider multiple sites of gathering that prioritize collective joys.

For those of us who have faced the cruel, systemic, and murderous tactics of colonization, prioritizing our collective joy and pleasure so that it overflows into a future that is bright and luminous is a distinct form of protest. As waters merge suggests that we might find possible avenues for locating this joy and pleasure through the ocean itself.

This exhibition features artworks by Charles Campbell, Carolina Caycedo, Léuli Eshrāghi with kekahi wahi (Drew Kahu’āina Broderick and Sancia Miala Shiba Nash), Alexa Hatanaka, and Violet Johnson.