“Ocean of Peace” exhibition celebrates Pacific kinship through art

The “Ocean of Peace” exhibition, currently at the East-West Center in Hawaiʻi, features 11 artists who explore connections between Micronesian and other Pacific cultures.

Mary Hattori curated the show, which began at Maui’s Schaefer International Gallery, to highlight the shared heritage of people across the Pacific Ocean. Inspired by Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s vision of a unified Pacific, the exhibition challenges the colonial-era divisions of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia imposed by French naval officer Jules Dumont d’Urville in 1832.

Hattori intentionally selected artists with strong ties to their communities and traditions, showcasing work that blends ancestral techniques like weaving and carving with contemporary art forms. Artists like CHamoru master weaver James Cruz Bamba and Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Manny Crisostomo demonstrate this fusion, honoring their ancestors while creating new forms of expression. Some artists, like Amber Khan, found belonging within Pacific communities after feeling alienated from their own.

The exhibition also reveals how Western concepts of art differ from traditional Indigenous practices, where functionality and beauty are often inseparable. The Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts recently purchased five works from the exhibition, increasing representation of Micronesian artists in the state’s public collection. The exhibit is scheduled to run through March 14, 2027.