kamea hadar

talk of the sea

Two canoes will leave Hawaii tomorrow for a long and memorable journey around the world. Polynesian Navigators will be guide by nothing else than the sun, the stars, the waves and the wind. The estimate time for this expedition is three years.

Both of the canoes uses for this special adventure are legendary. The first one Hokule’a is known for having been saved by the famous surfer Eddie Aikau who lost his life for it, and the second one belongs to his sister Hikianalia. 

Honolulu based artist Kamea Hadar wanted to mark this special event by doing something innovative with local students. Him and young artists from the POW! WOW! School of Art and 808 urban painted a large mural to celebrate this historical excursion. The painting illustrates Papa Mau Piailug, a navigator from the island of Satawal, Micronesia.

The master navitagor Piailug teached navigators of the Hokulea the art of non-instrumental way finding. At the age of six, Piailug was chosen by his grandfather to learn the art of navigation, and in 1976 when he guided Hokulea on its maiden voyage to Tahiti, Pailug was one of the only six navigators remaining in the world.