Bishop Museum July 2024 Exhibitions, Public Programs, and Events

Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History, shares its July 2024 exhibitions, public programs, and events. A full and continually updated listing can be found on the Museum's website, BishopMuseum.org.

In July, Bishop Museum celebrates the reveal of a new exhibit in its Science Adventure Center, Lele o Nā Manu: The Splendor and Loss of Hawaiʻi's Birds, opening to the public during July's Museum After Hours on July 12, 2024. Also, on view from July 19 is a new installation in historic Hawaiian Hall, Faith and Philanthropy: Queen Emma Kaleleonālani's Visit to England, 1865-1866.

July 2024

• OngoingKa ʻUla Wena: Oceanic RedCastle Memorial BuildingIncluded with Museum admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.Ka ʻUla Wena: Oceanic Red explores manifestations of red in the landscapes, memory, and created expressions of Oceania. Ka ʻUla Wena originates in Hawaiʻi, but we reach out to embrace our cousins across the vast Moananuiākea.The phrase "ka ʻula wena" refers to a glowing red, one whose warmth envelops Hawaiʻi each day, first at Kumukahi, the storied easternmost point of the Islands. It is the strength of the sun but also the bounty of reds found in the plants and animals it nourishes. Ka ʻula wena is a red experienced beyond seeing. This redness is felt in mele (song), moʻolelo (stories), and the wena (warmth) of kinship. Red conveys a constellation of ideas densely populated by meaning. Red, beyond color, shade, or hue, elevates the senses, shifts emotions, affirms kinships, enlivens passions, consecrates the sacred, and sets apart the profane.Ka ʻUla Wena: Oceanic Red celebrates the distinctly unique reds of Oceania and the redness of our connection.
• Ongoing | ExhibitionCorned Beef & KaloJ. M. Long GalleryIncluded with Museum admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.Corned Beef & Kalo features Pisupo lua afe (Corned beef 2000) by Michel Tuffery, and KALO by Bernice Akamine. The exhibition brings together two iconic works of contemporary art to consider how artists make visible issues related to agricultural subsistence, environmental sustainability, and everyday life where food imports and structured land use intertwine.
• 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.
• Starting July 12, 2024 | ExhibitLele o Nā Manu: The Splendor and Loss of Hawaiʻi's BirdsScience Adventure CenterIncluded with Museum admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.Lele o Nā Manu: The Splendor and Loss of Hawaiʻi's Birds features 47 exquisite carvings of endemic manu nahele by master craftsman, Haruo Uchiyama. The complete set of historically known Hawaiian honeycreepers will be displayed atop an original mural painted by local artist, Patrick Ching. The exhibit also includes a mural by Dr. Julian Hume depicting prehistoric Kīpahulu Valley, Maui; fossils of extinct Hawaiian bird species; and an interactive game.The opening of Lele o Nā Manu coincides with Ka Makahiki o nā Manu Nahele, the Year of the Forest Birds, a campaign to celebrate and raise awareness around Hawaiʻi's native forest birds.
• Starting July 19, 2024 | InstallationFaith and Philanthropy: Queen Emma Kaleleonālani's Visit to England, 1865-1866Hawaiian HallIncluded with Museum admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.Between 1865-1866, Queen Emma Kaleleonālani departed Hawaiʻi for a year-long journey to England, her first and only international voyage. Her journey had a specific mission: fundraising for the construction of St. Andrew's Cathedral, the seat of the Anglican Church in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Faith and Philanthropy: Queen Emma Kaleleonālani's Visit to England, 1865-1866 highlights research identifying items associated with Queen Emma's travel and fundraising strategies, utilizing objects from multiple Bishop Museum collections to demonstrate not only the richness of Emma's journey, but also the social, religious, and political spaces she navigated as a Hawaiian royal.
• Continuing through July 15, 2024 | 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.
• Thursdays-TuesdaysPlanetarium ShowsJ. Watumull Planetarium$3 with General Admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.Join 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 Summer Planetarium Shows:
  • "The Hawaiian Sky Tonight"
  • "Wayfinders: Waves, Winds, and Stars"
  • "Hidden Pacific"
  • "Ngā Tohunga Whakatere: The Navigators"
• July 2024 Sky Map | Online Resource (also attached to this release)Free downloads for personal use.You and your ʻohana can try your hand at backyard astronomy! The monthly Sky Maps from our J. Watumull Planetarium show the sky above Hawaiʻi from about 8-10 p.m. HST. Hold the Sky Map above your head to align all four directions and discover which stars and constellations are visible this month.
• Friday, July 12, 2024, 5-9 p.m. | Public ProgramBishop Museum After Hours: Lele o Nā Manu Grand OpeningGreat Lawn$10 pre-sale, $15 at the door for General Admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.Be among the first to see our new exhibit, Lele o Nā Manu: The Splendor and Loss of Hawaiʻi's Birds, opening to the public during July's Museum After Hours! The exhibit coincides with Ka Makahiki o nā Manu Nahele, the Year of the Forest Birds, a campaign to celebrate and raise awareness around Hawaiʻi's native forest birds.Explore the new exhibit, meet local organizations who work to protect our native birds, and enjoy activity booths. Take part in moderated panel discussions with the artists and researchers that brought Lele o Nā Manu to life. Panelists include master carver Haruo Uchiyama; mural artists Patrick Ching and Julian Hume; and the exhibit co-curators, Bishop Museum's Molly Hagemann, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Rob Fleischer, and Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's Helen James.
• Saturday, July 13, 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, June 21, 2024, 7-8 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 show is followed by stargazing on the Great Lawn with the Hawaiian Astronomical Society, weather permitting.
• Wednesday, July 31, 2024, 5-9 p.m. | EventWelo Ka Hae Hawaiʻi: Celebrating Lā Hoʻihoʻi EaHawaiian Hall and Gallery LawnsIncluded with Museum admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.Bishop Museum celebrates Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Sovereignty Restoration Day, with an evening event featuring Ka Hae Hawaiʻi, the raising of the Hawaiian Flag, as well as mele and special presentations in honor of the Hawaiian national holiday.Established on July 31, 1843 by Kauikeaouli, King Kamehameha III, Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea marks the return of political power to the Hawaiian Kingdom after the British unlawfully seized control of Hawaiʻi in 1843. In 2022, the State of Hawaiʻi designated July 31 as a special day of observance.

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

• Summer 2024 | Updates to Science Adventure Center installations
• August 2024 | E Ulu A Paʻa Fundraiser & Online Auction
• Oct. 5 | 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 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.