Lisa, my Hawaiian friend, introduced me to the concept of makawalu. Literally in the Hawaiian language maka means eyes, and walu is eight, and it has the connotation of an abundance of perspectives.
"If you begin to use a tool, think of eight ways you might be able to use it.
If you plot a garden, think of eight sections that will rotate your earth in season.
If you consider a friendship, think of eight ways you will be able to share it.
If you write a song, think of eight voices who will help you sing it."
I found it so intriguing that while we look at the digits on our hands and use base 10 as a number system, the Hawaiians looked at the 8 spaces between our fingers. The empty places can hold 8 fish tails or 8 taro leaves. For them, 8 is the number of completeness.
In addition to a multitude of perspectives makawalu implies infinite resources, and abundance rather than scarcity. Maintaining an abundance mindset is so important for an artist, and never more so than now. Using your creativity expands it rather than diminishes it. Sharing what you have gives back to you in unexpected ways.
I put makawalu into practical use in a proposal I wrote for a gallery show in Maui which will be showing in December of 2020. The challenge was to involve the community in some way. I decided to focus on one of our most critically endangered birds, the Palila. I started with 8 12" x 12" boards for my part of the project which is informed by Lisa's graduate studies on Palila vocalizations. I invited a ceramist, Marlenea Sheffield, graduate poetry fellow, Arah Ko, and the students at Christian Liberty Academy and Haili Christian to work along with me and give their abundance of perspective toward the Palila. Stay tuned to see how each part of this project is developing.
Thank you Lisa! For reading this and for your very insightful comments! Ive been thinking about it more this week.
I think makawalu is also so related to hospitality as you have to have an empty seat at the table to invite someone to dinner, an empty bed to stay the night, no words so you can listen....
And related to the Sermon on the Mount, you have to know you are poor to receive from God..
Wow! What a profound concept/foundation for this project and for life itself in these days of CoVID!— Looking for abundance in the empty spaces. I just love this!
The community input and involvement focused on that which is precious and endangered... is really a prophetic response for the times!