If you have never been to Pa’i Arts Gallery at Ala Moana Center, you should definitely go before they close their doors at the end of February, it features Native Hawaiian Tradition Art to Contemporary art and clothing. This was the perfect setting for PoMahina Designs and Maoli Jewelry to allow opportunity for more people in Hawai’i to be a part of the Maoli Movement at this year’s MAMo Wearable Arts Show.
It started just before call time at 6:30 p.m. and lasted an hour past the finish time of 8:00 p.m. We were sad that many were not able to stay for the duration of the process but we encourage them to reach out anyways.
You may be wondering why we decided to do a casting model call this year? It’s mainly due to the fact that this year we will be featuring keiki and a new “art” pieces that require us to find the right fit. It also allowed the opportunity for those who have always wanted the chance to do something like this, to step up and be heard.
Our theme this year is Kanaloa and Hina so some of the questions we asked may not be something that any normal casting would ask, such as, how do you relate to Kanaloa? One of the main questions was, if given a chance to share who you are in one to two words, how would you end this sentence: I AM……. Some of the answers were sure to give you chicken skin. This is what we were looking for, collective mana and essence.
The team was made up of a five panel members, a ‘concierge’, a photo taker, and measurements. On the panel, PoMahina Designs was represented by Kanoelani Davis and Maoli Jewelry by Tara Gumapac. Aside from the two, Kanoelani chose a friend who knows her style, Joyce Kwok, she chose fellow artist, Kamaka Pili who understands wearable art and owns his own brand, named after him, and Kulani Jeremiah-Wong who has modeled for PoMahina Designs in the past and has been a huge asset to the team in 2016 & 2017. The concierge greeted with aloha, Cody Kimoto and helping our models with photos and measurements was Dee & Cheryl.
As PoMahina Designs & Maoli Jewelry, we want to send a huge MAHALO to all that attended and look forward to getting back to you soon.