Mauka to Makai - Hawaiian Quilts and the Ecology of the Islands

Exploring the intimate relationship between Hawaiian quilts, post-colonialism, and ecological disaster, research curator Marenka Thompson-Odlum traverses Hawai'i through the Poakalani quilting group and fifteen extraordinary quilts, newly commissioned by Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. The ahupua'a is an ancient land division system - extending from the highest regions of Hawai'i's uplands (mauka) to the ocean (makai) - representative of the Hawaiian people's sacred knowledge and reverence towards the environment. Once a thriving and finely balanced system, the colonisation of the Hawaiian Islands coupled with the existential threat posed by the climate crisis has put the ahupua'a severely at risk.