The Arts of Kingship: Hawaiian Art and National Culture of the Kalākaua Era
by Stacy L. Kamehiro
The Arts of Kingship offers a sustained and detailed account of Hawaiian public art and architecture during the reign of David Kalākaua, the nativist and cosmopolitan ruler of the Hawaiian Kingdom from 1874 to 1891. Stacy Kamehiro provides visual and historical analysis of Kalākaua’s coronation and regalia, the King Kamehameha Statue, ‘Iolani Palace, and the Hawaiian National Museum, drawing them together in a common historical, political, and cultural frame.
These cultural projects were part of the monarchy’s concerted effort to promote a national culture in the face of colonial pressures, internal political divisions, and declining social conditions for Native Hawaiians, which, in combination, posed serious threats to the survival of the nation. The Kalākaua leadership endorsed images that boosted international relations and appeased foreign agitators in the kingdom while addressing indigenous political cleavages. Kamehiro interprets the images, spaces, and institutions as articulations of the complex cultural entanglements and creative engagement with international communities that occur with prolonged colonial contact. Nineteenth-century Hawaiian sovereigns celebrated Native tradition, history, and modernity by intertwining indigenous conceptions of superior chiefly leadership with the apparati and symbols of Asian, American, and European rule. The resulting symbolic forms speak to cultural intersections and historical processes, claims about distinctiveness and commonality, and the power of objects, institutions, and public display to create meaning and enable action.
The Arts of Kingship pursues questions regarding the nature of cultural exchange, how precolonial visual culture engaged and shaped colonial contexts, and how colonial art informs postcolonial visualities and identities. It will be welcomed by readers with a general and scholarly interest in Hawaiian history and art. As it contributes to discussions about colonial cultures, nationalism, and globalization, this interdisciplinary work will appeal to art and architectural historians as well as those studying Pacific history, cultural and museum studies, and anthropology.
60 illus., 16 in color
Stacy L. Kamehiro is associate professor in the History of Art and Visual Culture Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Read the introduction and view the table of contents on the UH Press website by clicking here.
Tags: hawaiian monarchy, Kalakaua, UH Press
September 26th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
"...the King Kamehameha Statue, ‘Iolani Palace, and the Hawaiian National Museum..."
What was/is the Hawaiian National Museum? This sounds like a fascinating book.
September 26th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
The Hawaiian National Museum was in existence in the late 19th century. Eventually its collection was combined with the Bishop Museum. As I recall there was some political brouhaha around that - the HNM was curated by a Hawaiian woman and the Director of the Bishop Museum was from the U.S. You're right, this does sound like a good book to read!