INTRODUCTION TO 'HAWAIʻI: A KINGDOM CROSSING OCEANS'. BRITISH MUSEUM

Join lead exhibition curator Alice Christophe for a tour of 'Hawaiʻi: a kingdom crossing oceans', exploring how an alliance formed over 200 years ago continues to shape our understanding of this Pacific island nation.

In November 1823, Liholiho (Kamehameha II), King of Hawaiʻi, set out from Honolulu to London with members of the royal Hawaiian court. Their voyage, across two oceans, sought to secure protection and alliance with the British Crown. 

It was a time of tremendous change, driven both internally and externally and as the presence of foreign powers rapidly increased in Hawaiian waters and lands.

 Through this major diplomatic mission, the Hawaiian Kingdom's representatives were also redefining Hawaiʻi's place in the world for the West, not as a distant and isolated group of islands in the North Pacific, but as a global nation with deep cultural roots in expansive international networks. 

 

The exhibition brings these histories into vivid focus by centring movements and stories initiated from Hawaiʻi itself. Building on years of collaboration with Native Hawaiian artists, practitioners and scholars, it traces the journeys of Hawaiian leaders to Britain, reframing these relationships on their own terms. 

Shining new light on exceptional objects and extraordinary stories, Hawaiʻi: a kingdom crossing oceans is a celebration of the artistry and history of Hawaiʻi and embraces multiple ways of knowing and experiencing the ancestral and contemporary works on display.

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