Kikilo Ke Kapu: Look to the Past and Future of Kapu!

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives invites the community to Kikilo Ke Kapu - an evening of moʻolelo, mele, oli, and hula featuring the world premiere of Aloha I ka Nehe Loulu ("Love for the Rustling Loulu Palm"), a new mele composed in the month of Kaulua 2026 by Kumu Sam ʻOhukaniʻōhiʻa Gon III with Mike DeMotta. The mele honors the loulu - Hawaiʻi's only native palm - and illustrates how haku mele strengthens the mana of a living biocultural kupuna by returning it to consciousness through ʻōlelo.

Kikilo - to look deeply, to observe with focused and careful attention - guides the evening's exploration of kapu as living repositories of mana, moʻokūʻauhau, and aloha ʻāina. Through ancient oli kahea, mele koʻihonua, sacred pule, and mele hula, the program holds both the grief of what has been lost and the determination to reclaim what remains.

Audiences will be guided by the renowned cultural practitioners of Hālau Hula Kamamolikolehua under Kumu Pōhai Souza, and Hālau Mele, under the direction of Kumu Sam ʻOhu Gon III and Kumu Māhealani Wong, with ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi translation by Kumu Makamae Nāone.

Tickets: $45 per person at www.missionhouses.org/events/kikilokekapu/

Support provided by Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority through the Kūkulu Ola Program.

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Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3626962-2?pid=2874

Category: Lifestyle | Culture