KOA FUTURES: Hawaii Peace & Justice
Since 1971, the people of Hawaiʻi have opposed the Rim of the Pacific Exercises and produced protest banners to hang from overpasses and buildings to demand and end to RIMPAC. Below you will see a few contemporary examplesThe movement first began with the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana and continued with the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific. The next wave of anti-war, demilitarization activists in Hawaiʻi are continuing toward building a world without war and generative economies that protects the ʻāina and our moana., a world of genuine security.
AʻOLE RIMPAC! #CANCELRIMPAC #GENUINESECURITY #PROTECTKANALOA #RIMPAC KILLS
Since 1971, the people of Hawaiʻi have opposed the Rim of the Pacific Exercises and produced protest banners to hang from overpasses and buildings to demand and end to RIMPAC. Below you will see a few contemporary examplesThe movement first began with the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana and continued with the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific. The next wave of anti-war, demilitarization activists in Hawaiʻi are continuing toward building a world without war and generative economies that protects the ʻāina and our moana., a world of genuine security.
AʻOLE RIMPAC! #CANCELRIMPAC #GENUINESECURITY #PROTECTKANALOA #RIMPAC KILLS
HOʻOPAE PONO PEACE PROJECT
The Hoʻopae Pono Peace Project seeks to build strength in the Hawaiian community, and in its connections with others, through culture-based support for the prevention and resolution of family and community issues, support for youth as nonviolent warriors, and promotion of nonviolent solution-building and activism.
The Hoʻopae Pono Peace Project seeks to build strength in the Hawaiian community, and in its connections with others, through culture-based support for the prevention and resolution of family and community issues, support for youth as nonviolent warriors, and promotion of nonviolent solution-building and activism.
MANA PACIFIKA (acrylic on canvas) 2022
Here on the canvas we see a variation of lustrous and vibrant Color’s this is to signify the youth of our pacific (still developing ) still growing, and still learning. This painting signifies the connectivity we share not just by breath but by sea, the woman pictured here is what we refer to as the mana Pacifika (Spiritual mother ) who is holding the sun which is also from a far a symbol of the Fibonacci sequence. The study of the Fibonacci sequence is used to acknowledge how in everything we are connected this equation can be found in the spiral of the nautilus at the bottom of the ocean, the spiral on your finger print, the same spiral on the Milky Way, the spiral on a freshly cut tree, this spiral is seen in most if not all that surrounds us,So from dusk till dawn, from the sea bed to the Rain Forrests we are connected and united. Therefore what may affect one can affect all, We cannot destroy what can destroy u |
Krystal Elizabeth Selwood Juffa
I am a true believer that everything we are is found in where we come from , that then sets the pace for who we ought to be.I am initially from the hinterland’s of the northern highlands of Papua New Guinea where the rivers creeks and waterfalls are my playground, where the Forrest keeps it’s secrets and where the land speaks if you listen, I belong to the Hunjarah Tribe in Hamarah . Kokoda is where I lived in the heart of Oro province where my people rely on the environment for lessons and the ground feeds them abundantly I am here in hopes to help save this way of life, as a wild child I feel it is my duty to fight for the speechless; that being the Forrest’s it’s limbs, the waters and its bodies and the ground and its legs. |
“Talaya 3000” #1 (digital photo)
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“Talaya 3000” #2 (digital photo)
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ROLDY
These are portraits of myself and my relationship to the waters of the islands of Guahan, making a paper net to hold me as I remember. My dad used to be a fisherman, bringing me and my brother along with him on the reefs. Walking along spikey limestone rocks, seeing colorful algae and sea grass as we wade through pools…these are just some of the things that I will always treasure, especially living away from the islands now. The title of these images is “Talaya 3000”. Talaya means fish in Chamoru. Our waters are so important. They are a place where knowledge is shared and grown, where history is passed down. And it is my hope that our waters will always be free, open and protected, so other fathers and parents would be able to make memories for their children in the future, to continue to connect them to the lands and waters that have always been there for us, forever.
These are portraits of myself and my relationship to the waters of the islands of Guahan, making a paper net to hold me as I remember. My dad used to be a fisherman, bringing me and my brother along with him on the reefs. Walking along spikey limestone rocks, seeing colorful algae and sea grass as we wade through pools…these are just some of the things that I will always treasure, especially living away from the islands now. The title of these images is “Talaya 3000”. Talaya means fish in Chamoru. Our waters are so important. They are a place where knowledge is shared and grown, where history is passed down. And it is my hope that our waters will always be free, open and protected, so other fathers and parents would be able to make memories for their children in the future, to continue to connect them to the lands and waters that have always been there for us, forever.
WOMEN'S VOICES WOMEN SPEAK (Anahulu at the Koʻa Cancel RIMPAC artivism event, July 7, 2022)
Womenʻs Voices Women Speak is a multiethnic collective of women in Hawaiʻi who address local and international issues relating to demilitarization, peace and non-violence. They work to foster womenʻs political leadership to educate the public on the gendered and environmental harms of militarization, as well as uplift examples of alternatives to military dependence. Read their statement: No to RIMPAC 2022; Yes to Aloha ‘Āina and Genuine Security
Womenʻs Voices Women Speak is a multiethnic collective of women in Hawaiʻi who address local and international issues relating to demilitarization, peace and non-violence. They work to foster womenʻs political leadership to educate the public on the gendered and environmental harms of militarization, as well as uplift examples of alternatives to military dependence. Read their statement: No to RIMPAC 2022; Yes to Aloha ‘Āina and Genuine Security
“SHE WILL BREATHE” #2
Mixed media
August 2022
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“SHE WILL BREATHE…. ANDE WE WILL BREATHE… FREE, FREELY, FREEDOM.”
Mixed media
August 2022
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MONAEKA "NAEK" FLORES
Monaeka "Naek" Flores (she/they) is a queer CHamoru artist and activist from Guåhan. Naek is a core member of Prutehi Liteyan: Save Ritidian and Independent Guåhan. I was inspired by the powerful collective poem and video produced by the Cancel RIMPAC coalition in 2000, “In A World Without RIMPAC.” Like the poem, these images are meditations on a world without militarization and colonization. I reflected on true embodiments of freedom, the protection of all that is sacred, and the profound relationships cultivated over millennia with the ocean and each other.
Monaeka "Naek" Flores (she/they) is a queer CHamoru artist and activist from Guåhan. Naek is a core member of Prutehi Liteyan: Save Ritidian and Independent Guåhan. I was inspired by the powerful collective poem and video produced by the Cancel RIMPAC coalition in 2000, “In A World Without RIMPAC.” Like the poem, these images are meditations on a world without militarization and colonization. I reflected on true embodiments of freedom, the protection of all that is sacred, and the profound relationships cultivated over millennia with the ocean and each other.
RIMPAC COLLAGE
This is a digital collage of research I have done on Australia’s historical reporting of Australian participation in RIMPAC since 1971 as one of the four founding members. The bottom layer of material was found in defense-related newspapers and magazines, one of which explicitly states “national newspapers seldom take a great deal of interest in military exercises involving Australian forces overseas”. I think this can give us some insight into the everyday Australians' lack of awareness of our active desecration of Kanaka Maoli lands, seas and skies at RIMPAC every two years. This is overlaid with a variety of colorful logos, designs and images found in the periodicals of or related to the regional Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific and Protect Kaho’olawe 'Ohana that resisted RIMPAC from its beginning. As an alternative press and source of information, the Pacific grassroots disrupted the silences of the Western media news cycle and educated people across the region on the devastation caused by RIMPAC for over 50 years. |
TALEI MANGIONI
Talei Mangioni is a Fijian and Italian person living and working on unceded Ngunnawal and Ngambri land. Talei is a PhD candidate at the Australian National University, with work that traces the creative chronicle of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific movement. |
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A pehea ihola hoi i nalowale ai na Bipi nei o Ewa? (and how did the oysters of Ewa disappear?) digital images (2022)
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A PEHEA IHOLA HOI NALOWALE AI NA BIPI NEI O EWA?
I ka wa i nalo aku ai keia pipi, ua uluae la kekahi mea nihoniho keokeo ma na wahi a pau o ke kai o Ewa, a ua kapa iho na kanaka o Ewa i kona inoa he pahikaua, he mea oi keia. (Manu 1885) At the time that these oysters disappeared, a white jagged, serrated object arose in each and every place on the ocean side of ‘Ewa, and the people of ‘Ewa named this object a “pahikaua,” which is a sharp, pointed thing. I chose this quote from Leilani Basham's article, "Ka I'a Hamau Leo: Silences that Speak Volumes for Honouliuli" because it captures the connection between the violent presence of the military in Hawai'i and the disappearance of the endemic pipi (oyster) of Pu'uloa (Pearl Harbor). Pu'uloa which was once a primary food source with numerous fish and salt ponds and an abundance of meaty oysters, has become a superfund site caused by more than a century of military contamination. Now Kanaka Maoli cannot eat anything within the harbor or even risk swimming in the water without risk of serious illness or death. When RIMPAC arrives they invite countries from around the world to play war games in our wai only increasing the devastation to the environment. #'A'oleRIMPAC |
JOY LEHUANANI ENOMOTO
Joy Enomoto is a Kanaka Maoli artist, scholar and community organizer who lives on the slopes of Pu'owaina, O'ahu. She is currently the Koa Futures organizer for Hawai'i Peace & Justice, which is dedicated to a demilitarized and free Pacific and a member of the Hawaiian Sovereignty organization, Hui Aloha 'Åina o Honolulu. These photos were taken during Anahulu at the Ko'a in front of the Pacific Fleet Command protesting the presence of RIMPAC and demanding the shut down of the US Navy's Red Hill Storage Facilities, which has leaked jet fuel into the water supply poisoning 93,000 people. Joy is the curator of Cancel RIMPAC online exhibition |
HEFRANI BARNES
Of both English and Rotuman heritage, Hefrani, whose name translates to “the Morningstar”- is a young self-taught visual, conceptual artist and illustrator. |
EACH STRAND OF HAIR(acrylic on canvas (2022))
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This painting draws its inspiration from a story about how love can save the world.
The story goes that in the old days in the land now known as Guam, when the people lost their connection to their ways, the rains would not come and the people grew wild with hunger, a giant fish determined to destroy the island began to eat the island, one giant bite after another. The women offered their help but the men rejected the women’s offer. Day after day the men tried to stop it but couldn’t. One night, the answer came to the maga’haga elder and leader of the women. The women would weave a giant net from their long black hair. One by one they came, weaving and chanting through the night, imbued with deep spiritual belief to make the net unbreakable. By the morning they set the net trap that caught the monster fish but the women couldn’t haul the monster fish in so they asked the men for their help. Together they helped them haul the monster fish. The painting is a rendering of the power of ordinary people and in particular women in resisting extraordinary powers in this case the military industrial complex depicted by the giant metallic octopus. The military has long been studying biomimicry of marine animals to weaponize natures powers for naval defense purposes. The octopus is one such creature the military has been studying for its translucent properties to hide from the enemy.
RIMPAC, is one such industrial complex on the ocean. It’s sheer scale, size, and power seem an impossible powerful structure to overturn. Yet stories like these offer us lessons. Each strand of hair on its own is not strong enough to catch the monster yet woven together imbued with chants and prayers of love and hope they can transform a single strand of hair into a protective net. The women knew they couldn’t do this alone so asked the men to help them. Together they demonstrate people’s abilities to overturn the most powerful monsters of this world.
The story goes that in the old days in the land now known as Guam, when the people lost their connection to their ways, the rains would not come and the people grew wild with hunger, a giant fish determined to destroy the island began to eat the island, one giant bite after another. The women offered their help but the men rejected the women’s offer. Day after day the men tried to stop it but couldn’t. One night, the answer came to the maga’haga elder and leader of the women. The women would weave a giant net from their long black hair. One by one they came, weaving and chanting through the night, imbued with deep spiritual belief to make the net unbreakable. By the morning they set the net trap that caught the monster fish but the women couldn’t haul the monster fish in so they asked the men for their help. Together they helped them haul the monster fish. The painting is a rendering of the power of ordinary people and in particular women in resisting extraordinary powers in this case the military industrial complex depicted by the giant metallic octopus. The military has long been studying biomimicry of marine animals to weaponize natures powers for naval defense purposes. The octopus is one such creature the military has been studying for its translucent properties to hide from the enemy.
RIMPAC, is one such industrial complex on the ocean. It’s sheer scale, size, and power seem an impossible powerful structure to overturn. Yet stories like these offer us lessons. Each strand of hair on its own is not strong enough to catch the monster yet woven together imbued with chants and prayers of love and hope they can transform a single strand of hair into a protective net. The women knew they couldn’t do this alone so asked the men to help them. Together they demonstrate people’s abilities to overturn the most powerful monsters of this world.
KAORU KODAMA
lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. She completed her Master of Philosophy at Auckland University of Technology (Te Wānanga Aronui O Tāmaki Makau Rau) in 2021, researching contemporary artworks concerned with nuclear weapons testing in Oceania. The research was led by an Indigenous Hawaiian epistemological framework as discussed by the scholar Manulani Aluli-Meyer. |
WOVEN WATERS (2022) Digital Image
We are all interconnected and interdependent; our waters are woven together across the moana. Te Moana Nui a Kiwa is not an empty practice ground for military powers peripheral and external to the Pacific region. Spread care to all the edges of the moana and enable life to all those that live in and around the waters. |
Connect together. Care for yourself and others. Don't be a murderer.
Stop the militarisation of Oceania. Stop RIMPAC!
Stop the militarisation of Oceania. Stop RIMPAC!
"ALLIES DON'T DESECRATE PARTNERS" by KALANI REYES
HA’Åni BETTIS
Ha’åni Irene Palacios Bettis is an artist born in Guam and raised in Arizona. She has traveled throughout her life and returned to Guam in 2017, the same year she began painting. Ha’åni is self-taught, focusing mainly with acrylic, but also enjoys gouache, charcoal, as well as natural items such as dried plants/leaves. Upon returning to Guam, Ha’åni has been determined to reconnect with her island as well as her Chamoru identity. She currently resides in the village of Merizo with her fiancé, two daughters, Aura Lille and Zephyr Marley, their dogs, cats, chickens, and growing garden. She is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Tropical Agriculture Production with a double minor in Art & Nutrition Requirements from the University of Guam. |
AS SPIRITS LINGER (acrylic on canvas)
Litekyan/Ritidian is a culturally and environmentally rich wildlife preserve at the northernmost part of the island of Guam. It is home to ancient village sites, artifacts, caves, native plant and animal life that remains largely preserved in its wild splendor. Unfortunately, the US military intends to build a firing range on the land which would result in a cascade of negative and avoidable repercussions
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ARCY IMASA
Arcy Imasa is a Filipino immigrant/settler to Hawaii and and as a member of the Hawaii Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, is an advocate for human rights in the Philippines. She tries her best to teach her son Gabriel, who is pictured holding the placard, about community issues and how to be a good human being. |
"END RIMPAC" painted sign
by ARCELITA IMASA, Aiea, Hawaiʻi
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Night Ocean (punch needle embroidery)
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RIKA TAKEDA
Rika Takeda is a ZINESTER and artist from Tokyo, Japan who uses a technique called punch needle embroidery to create an image of the night ocean surrounded by greenery. I oppose the destruction of nature by wars and military training. |
YUKINE ASHIMINE
I run a lodging "Yamagame" in the Yanbaru Forest in northern Okinawa. I love to work on various things such as ceramic art, indigo dyeing, medicinal herbs, and therapy treatments May a lot of peace be brought to the Pacific islands! |
Flower foot inviting peace (Ceramics)
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KAIA “CURRY” VEREIDE
Kaia “Curry” Vereide got involved in peace activism while living at a community welcoming refugees in the eastern USA. She realized the need to stop wars before they begin. She arrived as a visitor to Gangjeong Village, Jeju Island, South Korea, and was captivated by the energy of the peace movement opposing the Jeju Naval Base. Now, after more than six years in Gangjeong, she is still learning and growing as she participates in the creative and resilient peace community. |
“LINKING ARMS WITH DINOSAURS” (paper cuttings & light)
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We can become accustomed to anything, even to dinosaurs appearing in our daily lives. In the peace movement in Gangjeong Village, I have become accustomed to many strange new routines: bowing one hundred times to pray for peace outside the gates of the Jeju Naval Base, leading teams of kayakers over the waterfall from Gangjeong River into the ocean, singing, dancing and marching with flags in the middle of the street… Just as dinosaurs have a fantastic and enchanting power which enraptures the child in each of us, the power of creative nonviolence invites us to transform what we take for granted and imagine new possibilities. Maybe that is why I dreamed on Mar. 20, 2017 of dinosaurs swimming into the harbor of the Jeju Naval Base and happily munching away on the giant copy machines that floated there in the place of warships. We have become too comfortable and desensitized to seeing warships and military bases in our daily life and we forget to pay attention to the spectacular corals and crabs, chitons and sea stars, fishes and toads, sea snails and anemones which encircle our coasts. Both Jeju and Hawaii are geologically too young to have dinosaur fossils, but the volcanic islands are filled with the ancient power of nature and ripe with youthful, creative potential to extricate us from the war machine.
(Because of the US Navyʻs occupation of Korea, it is a member country of the RIMPAC exercises. The US presence in Korea has had devastating impacts on the Korean peninsula and the inability for North & South Korea to unify).
(Because of the US Navyʻs occupation of Korea, it is a member country of the RIMPAC exercises. The US presence in Korea has had devastating impacts on the Korean peninsula and the inability for North & South Korea to unify).