During the summer of 2020, eight visual artists and eight performing artists were invited to create new work responding to the concept of place at Shangri La. Each artist was entrusted with one of eight celebrated (and complicated) spaces at the museum that served as both a creative prompt and exhibition space for his/her/their work - the Foyer, the Living Room, the Textile Gallery, the Manuscript Gallery, the Mughal Gallery, the Private Garden, the Mihrab Hallway, and the Ottoman Gallery.

The result? A remarkable and highly original exhibition of artists residing within Hawaiʻi’s area code (808) that showcases the exceptional creativity that exists across the archipelago and its intersections with Islamic art, culture, and design in the Pacific. While #8x8_shangrila was planned pre-COVID, nonetheless it is a show that sparks hope, connection, and conversation about the meaning of community amidst the maladies of 2020.