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Bishop Museum February 2024, Exhibitions, Public Programs, and Events

Bishop Museum shares its February 2024 exhibitions, public programs, and events, featuring Project Banaba, Museum After Hours, planetarium shows, and more.

Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum shares its February 2024 exhibitions, public programs, and events. A full and continually updated listing can be found on the Museum's website, BishopMuseum.org. For more information on any of the items listed herein, please contact Lance Aquino with Stryker Weiner & Yokota Public Relations, Inc.

February sees special Museum After Hours programming around our exhibition, Project Banaba, on Feb. 9, 2024.

February 2024

  • Continuing through Feb. 18, 2024 | ExhibitionProject BanabaJ. M. Long GalleryIncluded with Museum admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.Project Banaba commemorates the history of Banaba Island in the Pacific Ocean, which was destroyed by environmentally devastating phosphate mining during the 20th century. This led to the total relocation of its people in 1945, the 78th anniversary of their displacement being observed on Dec. 15, 2023 during the run of the exhibition. In Project Banaba, Banaban scholar and artist Katerina Teaiwa brings together rare historical archives and multimedia works that shed light on this little-known history, and its ongoing impact on Pacific communities.
  • Ongoing | ExhibitPlaying With LightCastle Memorial BuildingIncluded with Museum admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.Playing With Light, created by Scitech in Perth, Australia and produced by Imagine Exhibitions, combines LIGHT, a fundamental element in our everyday lives, and PLAY, a means to ignite the imagination, in this fun exploration into light technology.
  • Ongoing | ExhibitLalo: Science and Conservation in the Northwestern Hawaiian IslandsScience Adventure CenterIncluded with Museum admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.Lalo: Science and Conservation in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands tells the cultural and scientific significance of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) as the kūpuna islands of Hawaiʻi. The exhibit features "The Ongoing Legacy of Coral Reef Exploration," "The Lalo Plastic Story," as well as 2D and 3D digital experiences that allow visitors to view terrestrial and underwater scenes and experience them as a series of immersive storylines about PMNM.
  • Ongoing | InstallationFifty Years of Life: ʻUmeke from King Kalākaua's JubileeHawaiian HallIncluded with Museum admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.Fifty Years of Life: ʻUmeke from King Kalākaua's Jubilee introduces three ʻumeke (bowls) that were gifted to King David Kalākaua for his 50th birthday on Nov. 16, 1886. The case also features a bust of Kalākaua made by sculptor Allen Hutchinson.
  • Ongoing | InstallationsCampus MuralsThroughout the Museum campus.Included with Museum admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.Bishop Museum's outdoor murals provide an immersive art experience that bridges traditional culture, creative expression, and indigenous perspectives. The initial round of murals was completed in 2021 in conjunction with the special exhibit POW! WOW! The First Decade: From Hawaiʻi to the World, and was expanded in May 2023 during the Hawaiʻi Walls Mural Festival in Kalihi. The additional murals were inspired by the Kalihi community, local histories, and Bishop Museum's cultural and scientific collections and resources.
  • Fridays-TuesdaysPlanetarium ShowsJ. Watumull Planetarium$3 with General Admission. Free for Bishop Museum MembersJoin us in the J. Watumull Planetarium at Bishop Museum to connect with the environment and peoples of the Pacific region, the expanse of our universe, and the stories we pass on from generation to generation.2024 Winter Planetarium Shows:"The Hawaiian Sky Tonight""Wayfinders: Waves, Winds, and Stars""Edge of Darkness""Experience the Aurora"**Weekends and holidays only.
  • Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, 5-9 p.m. | Public ProgramBishop Museum After HoursGreat Lawn$10 pre-sale, $15 at the door for General Admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.Bishop Museum celebrates its featured exhibition, Project Banaba by Katerina Teaiwa, which commemorates the history of Banaba, an island within Kiribati. Enjoy live performances by the BYUH Kiribati Dance Club and the I-Kiribati on Oahu Association (IKOA). See traditional dances inspired by the frigate bird that reflect the foundations of I-Kiribati culture.The Museum is also releasing a new Project Banaba coloring book created by Mana Comics. Bring your ʻohana for fun coloring activities throughout the night.
  • Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, 10-11 a.m. | Public ProgramKanikapila ma KaiwiʻulaNā Ulu Kaiwiʻula Native Hawaiian GardenIncluded with Museum admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.E hoʻokani pila pū kākou! Join members of the ʻUkulele Guild of Hawaiʻi in our Nā Ulu Kaiwiʻula Native Hawaiian Garden. Bring your ʻukulele or borrow one. Learn new techniques, share moʻolelo, or just enjoy the music as ʻUkulele Guild of Hawaiʻi leads guests through selections from "He Mele Aloha: A Hawaiian Songbook."
  • Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, 5:30-8:30 p.m. | EventThe Stars TonightJ. Watumull PlanetariumCapacity is limited, and registration is required. $10 General Adult, $7 General Youth. Children 3 and under are free but will be expected to share a seat with an adult or guardian. 50% discount for Bishop Museum Members.Come study the stars, travel across the Earth and into our solar system, and share stories with us in our J. Watumull Planetarium! The Stars Tonight is a live evening program designed for all ages, and each month will have its own theme and activities. Each show is followed by stargazing on the Great Lawn with the Hawaiian Astronomical Society, weather permitting.
  • Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, 7-8 p.m. | EventNavigating by the StarsJ. Watumull PlanetariumCapacity is limited, and registration is required. $10 General Adult, $7 General Youth. Children 3 and under are free but will be expected to share a seat with an adult or guardian. 50% discount for Bishop Museum Members.Join Bishop Museum Planetarium educators and Hōkūleʻa navigator and Honolulu Community College Hoʻokele Instructor Kaʻiulani Murphy for Navigating by the Stars! Each talk will include an introduction to the night sky and celestial navigation. The February program will feature the Hawaiian star line most prominent this month, Kekāomakaliʻi.
  • Wednesdays and Saturdays, Feb. 28 – March 30, 2024 | Volunteer OpportunitySpring 2024 Education Docent TrainingBishop Museum CampusDo you have a passion for sharing stories about the natural and cultural history of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific? Join Bishop Museum's next cohort of Education Docents!Docents provide visitors with a deeper understanding of Bishop Museum's mission, vision, and values by facilitating conversations and leading interpretive educational activities. Participants will learn from our Education Team and have opportunities to meet staff from Bishop Museum's back-of-house collections. This five-week program is meeting twice weekly in three-hour sessions, and is open to participants of all levels of experience, from ages 16 and up.

Looking past February, Bishop Museum is also excited to preview the following upcoming exhibits and public programs in 2024:

  • March 9 | Corned Beef & Kalo (exhibition)
  • April 20 | Science & Sustainability Festival 2024 (signature event)
  • May 25 | Ka ʻUlu Wena (exhibition)
  • June 6-16 | 13th Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture (FestPAC) at Bishop Museum
  • July | Faith and Philanthropy: Queen Emma Kaleleonālani's Visit to England, 1865-1866 (installation)
  • Summer 2024 | Updates to Science Adventure Center installations
  • Fall 2024 | Kū a Lanakila! Expressions of Sovereignty in Early-Territorial Hawaiʻi (exhibition)
  • Fall 2024 | Kāhuli Festival 2024
  • Fall/Winter 2024 | Updates to Science on a Sphere ("SOS") Rotunda exhibit

Bishop Museum also holds Daily Programs for all guests, as well as in-person J. Watumull Planetarium shows. Its Signature Galleries include its Hawaiian Hall, Pacific Hall, Picture Gallery, Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kāhili Room, Nā Ulu o Kaiwiʻula Native Hawaiian Garden, Richard T. Mamiya Science Adventure Center, and Campus Murals. For more information, please visit BishopMuseum.org.

About Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History

Bishop Museum’s mission is to inspire our community and visitors through the exploration, celebration, and perpetuation of the extraordinary history, culture, and environment of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. The Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in memory of his wife Bernice Pauahi Bishop, a royal descendant of King Kamehameha I. Today, the Museum thrives as an educational center for the community and is widely regarded as the world’s premier institution for Hawaiian and Pacific content.

Bishop Museum’s vast collections of more than 25 million objects and specimens represent nine disciplines and include more than 22 million biological specimens, over 2 million cultural objects, 115,000 historical publications, and 1 million photographs, films, works of art, audio recordings, and manuscripts. These collections tell the stories of the cultures and biodiversity of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific as well as the proud legacy of scholarly research spanning 130 years.

Bishop Museum proudly serves more than 200,000 visitors each year, including 20,000 children on school visits. Guests are encouraged to pre-plan their trip to #HawaiisMuseum with its free digital guide, available through Bloomberg Connects.

To learn more about the Museum’s research, collections, exhibits, and programs, visit BishopMuseum.org, follow @BishopMuseum on Facebook and Instagram, visit Bishop Museum’s YouTube channel, or call (808) 847-3511. Bishop Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Bishop Museum is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer, and welcomes applicants from the military, veterans, and those with disabilities. Learn about careers at Bishop Museum at BishopMuseum.org/Careers and on its LinkedIn page.

Bishop Museum Press is Hawaiʻi’s oldest book publisher and one of the first scholarly publishers in the Western Hemisphere, and has published over 1,200 titles and distributed over 1 million books in 72 countries worldwide. Bishop Museum hosts a restaurant and gift shop on campus, Tūtū’s Place by Highway Inn and Shop Pacifica by Nā Mea Hawaiʻi.