Practising Hawaiian culture across the sea: Ahilapalapa Rands

Over 100 years ago artist Ahilapalapa Rands’ great-grandfather, the ukulele virtuoso Ernest Ka’ai wrote the song ‘Across the Sea’, the lyrics speaking to the pull that Hawai’i has for Kānaka Maoli (indigenous Hawaiaans) living elsewhere. Born and raised in Aotearoa New Zealand, Rands is of Kānka Maoli, Samoan, Cook Islands and Pākehā descent. She is then truly of the Pacific. In her latest installations at Pātaka Museum in Porirua, Across the Sea, she explores the connections across TeMoana-nui-a-kiwa, the Pacific ocean to Hawai’i.