News Room

Media Advisory

Media Preview: The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu

Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum invites members of the news media to attend an exclusive, pre-opening, closed-door Media Preview of its newest original exhibition, The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu:

  • Thursday, June 16, 2022
  • 1–4 p.m.
  • Castle Memorial Building
  • Please RSVP with Lance Aquino via the contact information above

Interview opportunities:

  • Bishop Museum Vice President of Public Programs, Brandon Bunag
  • Exhibition Lead Curator DeSoto Brown, Bishop Museum Historian and Curator of the Archives
  • Exhibition Curator Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Kanaka Pakipika, Cultural Expert
  • Exhibition Curator Dean Hamer, Kanaka Pakipika/Qwaves, Lead Researcher
  • Exhibition Curator Joe Wilson, Kanaka Pakipika/Qwaves, Producer/Director
  • Exhibition Designer, Michael Wilson

Upon arrival at the Museum, please check in at the Security Desk to exchange a form of identification for a Bishop Museum Media Badge. The on-site Museum contact will be Ken Yatomi, director of communications.

Highlights of the exhibition include:

  • Kapaemahu, the Animated ExperienceAn immersive theatrical experience of the eight-minute animated film, Kapaemahu, produced and directed by exhibition co-curators Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, and Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu.
  • *Large-scale three-dimensional artistic renderings of the four pōhaku* that constitute the cultural site of Kapaemahu.
  • *Experiential Timeline*An extensive multimedia presentation incorporating historical texts and audiovisual materials, spanning the time from the stones' geological creation to the present day.
  • *Bishop Museum Cultural and Archival Collections*Collection items selected for this exhibition speak to the integral role healing practices originally played at all levels of Kānaka Maoli life, and how these became less prevalent through time due to foreign influences. Several key historical figures who contributed to the transmission of the Kapaemahu story over time will be shown, in addition to an extensive array of photographs and historic film clips illustrating the dramatic changes to the Waikīkī district where the stones themselves are still seen today.
  • *Portraits of Gender Diversity in the Pacific*A photo and video collage of Pacific Islanders self-representing their gender identities and other cultural heritages. This social media-driven component is collected and organized by Qwaves, LLC.
  • *The Glade Nightclub*One room of the exhibition is a salute to a famed Honolulu gathering place and nightspot of the 1960s and '70s, where māhū performers could openly be themselves as well as earn a paycheck. The Glade show club functioned as a safe space in the face of hostility and legal prosecution from the rest of the world.

Bishop Museum Admission, Parking, and Hours

Timed General Admissions can be booked on the hour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at BishopMuseum.org/Tickets. Tickets for Bishop Museum After Hours events can be purchased via this same webpage.

The safety and health of our visitors and employees remain our highest priorities. Face masks are optional but strongly encouraged. Learn more on our Health & Safety page.

*General Admission* Adults: $24.95 Seniors (65+): $21.95 Youth (4–17): $16.95 Children (3 and under): Free

*Hawaiʻi Residents, Hawaiʻi College Students & Military with ID* Adults: $14.95 Seniors (65+): $12.95 Youth (4–17): $10.95 Children (3 and under): Free

Children age 16 and younger must be accompanied by an adult.

Bishop Museum Annual Membership levels include free general admission and parking for 12 months. Learn more at BishopMuseum.org/Membership.

*Parking Rates* Daytime Rate: 6 a.m. – 5 p.m. $5.00 Evening Rate: 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. $3.00

*Hours* Open every day from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Closed on Thanksgiving and on Christmas Day.

Bishop Museum Café by Highway Inn offers a limited menu of bowls, sandwiches, and snacks from 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. daily. Bishop Museum Members receive a 10% discount with their membership card.

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.