Feathers skilfully bound together for Hina, the goddess of femininity

Wed 19 Feb 2025

Hawaiians believed that the gods were born covered head-to-toe in feathers, and that, like birds, they could move effortlessly between Earth and the heavens. Handmade featherwork was used to symbolise and strengthen the connection of ali’i (chiefs and nobility) and kahuna (religious leaders, scholars and teachers) to the divine, as the source of their mana and authority.

Watch | Mele Kahalepuna Chun's featherwork is her sacred responsibility

Hawaiian featherwork commenced with the archipelago’s first inhabitants and is intrinsic to the identity and culture of Native Hawaiian people. Mele Kahalepuna Chun is a third-generation kumu hulu — a recognised expert practitioner and teacher of Hawaiian featherwork. Through this practice she carries forward the legacy of her mother, the late Paulette Nohealani Kahalepuna, and grandmother, the late Mary Louise Wentworth Peck Kekuewa.

Hina 2024 (illustrated) unifies in a single arrangement three featherwork forms — lei (feather garlands), kāhili (royal feather standards) and ‘ahu‘ula (royal feather cloaks). Each of the sacred objects in the Asia Pacific Triennial installation begins with a meticulous process of cutting, arranging and skilfully binding together thousands of individual, ethically sourced feathers.

Hina 2024

Collectively, the work honours the stories and attributes of Hina, goddess of the moon (and femininity), one of the oldest Hawaiian deities. Hina’s stories resound throughout the Pacific, celebrating the balance between feminine and masculine energies, with the moon understood as an ever-present creative force and guide to living in alignment with natural rhythms. Chun’s work thoughtfully draws on this knowledge to reflect the spiritual and practical roles that featherwork plays in the lives of Hawaiian people, and the significant contributions women have made to caring for the practice.

In traditional Hawaiian society, sourcing feathers was a carefully considered practice that aimed to avoid harm to birds. Kia manu (bird catchers) were trained in special techniques, such as smearing a sticky substance on a branch to help catch a bird, before carefully plucking a few feathers and releasing it. Sadly, many native Hawaiian birds are now either extinct or endangered, meaning kumu hulu like Chun must source feathers ethically from abroad.

Mōhalu (Crescent moon)

This lei wili poepoe (feather garland) reimagines the face of the moon as a complete circle represented by a lei (garland), with part of it cast in the shadow of the Earth. Mele Kahalepuna Chun has named the work Mōhalu after a specific phase of the crescent moon.

Ke Ala O Ka Mahina (Phases of the moon)

In this lei wili kamoe (feather garland) called Ke Ala O Ka Mahina, Mele Kahalepuna Chun has depicted all 30 phases of the moon. From one end, feathers depict the dark hilo (new moon) waxing through various phases until the full moon motif appears at the heart of the work. The feathers are then arranged to portray a waning moon as it diminishes towards muku (no moon/dark moon) in the opposite direction.

Mahinaokeao (Moon of the world)

Mele Kahalepuna Chun designed this ‘ahu‘ula (feather cape) for Hina, the goddess of the moon. In this work named Mahinaokeao, the artist has used earthy brown tones to complement Hina’s dual states of darkness and light. White feathers around the neckline accentuate the feminine crescent form, while a lei (garland) arrangement provides the finishing edge

Edited extract from the publication The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, QAGOMA, 2024

Art that keeps us connected
Asia Pacific Triennial
30 November 2024 – 27 April 2025
Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA)
Brisbane, Australia
Free entry