Residency
Wehiwehi
Wehiwehi will serve as a laboratory for Native Hawaiian contemporary performing artists to build community with one another, assess existing ways of creating, and pilot new methodologies at the crossroads of cultural preservation, contemporary performance, traditional indigenous technologies, and digital production & performance technologies.
Follow the Residency: @hi_shangrila
For decades, Native Hawaiian cultural practices have experienced a renaissance, but there remains a critical need for support tailored to artists working at the forefront of contemporary performance. By bridging gaps in access to resources, training, and technology, Wehiwehi addresses these challenges head-on.
Art preserves culture, sparks dialogue, and builds connections. Wehiwehi is an artist cohort that brings together Native Hawaiian artists to explore the intersections of cultural preservation, contemporary performance, and cutting-edge technology.
This inaugural Wehiwehi residency is a creative laboratory designed to cultivate collaboration among a diverse, multi-generational group of Native Hawaiian performing artists. Over ten days, these artists will engage in workshops, cultural re-centering, and studio experiments aimed at blending traditional ecological knowledge with modern performance and production technologies.
Wehiwehi is as much about community building as it is about art-making. It provides a platform for artists to share their stories, explore new methodologies, and collectively envision a vibrant future for Native Hawaiian contemporary performance.
Inaugural 2025 Artist Cohort
- Anthony Aiu (he/him) is a New York City based Choreographer and Dancer, born and raised in Hawai’i
- Pele Bausch (she/her) is a New York City based Choreographer and Dancer, born and raised in New York City, of Hawaiian descent.
- Moses Goods (he/him) is a Honolulu based Playwright and Actor
- Leilehua Lanzilotti (they/she) is a Honolulu based Multimedia Artist, and Composer.
- Patrick Makuakāne (he/him) is a San Francisco based Kumu Hula, Musician, Performer born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i
- Christopher Kaui Morgan (he/him) is a San Diego based Choreographer and Dancer, born and raised in California by his parents who are both part Hawaiian.
- T.J. Keanu Tario/Laritza Labouche is a multifaceted composer, pianist, and Hawaiian cultural practitioner by day, and ballroom vogue drag artist by night.
Making contemporary performance for both Native and Non-native audiences, the work of the invited artists are all influenced by their Hawaiian identities, in depth research into Hawaiian cultural practices, contemporary western performance practices, traditional indigenous technologies, and digital production technologies. Members of the inaugural cohort work across the disciplines of modern dance, hula, western classical music, mele, theater, and hana keaka (Hawaiian medium-theater).
The cohort represents a range of ages and points along the career spectrum.
The cohort includes artists:
- born and raised in Hawai’i where they continue to work and practice their art.
- born and raised in Hawai’i who have found their home in the Continental United States.
- born and raised in the Continental United States who live and work as part of the Hawaiian diaspora.
The cohort includes artists who have connections to the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, First Peoples Fund, Western Arts Alliance’s Advancing Indigenous Performance Program , Dance/USA. Some of the cohort have received major awards, while others are emerging into the field.
Wehiwehi is supported by the Doris Duke Foundation, and hosted at Shangri La, a center of the Doris Duke Foundation in Honolulu, Hawai’i. Wehiwehi is founded and directed by Christopher Kaui Morgan.
Event
Wehiwehi at PA'I Arts & Cultural Center
A gathering of Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) artists working at the intersection of indigeneity & contemporary performance.January 31, 2025
