no ke kai ka hoi ua aina, 2022
16 minutes and 37 seconds
16:9, color, sound

A portrait of Waikīkī in the year 2020, as a pandemic, sea level rise, and social unrest defined daily life throughout the planet, no ke kai ka hoi ua aina documents the Royal Hawaiian Groin Replacement, a project of Hawaiʻi Dept. of Land and Natural Resources. Film collective kekahi wahi contextualizes the State’s attempt to fortify the deteriorating beachfront within a larger narrative arc of Waikīkī, recalling the prophetic words of kahuna nui Kaʻopulupulu, “I nui ke aho a moe i ke kai, no ke kai ka hoi ua aina”—Take a deep breath and give your body to the sea, the land is the sea’s.

George Helm’s cover of Mary Pulaʻa Robins’ “Royal Hawaiian Hotel,” archival photographs and history paintings of Waikīkī, and an adaptation of Disney’s Stitch by Kēhau Noe add layers of meaning to the endlessly eroding scene.