One of a trio of posters in Tomas Belsky's series honors islander navigator Mau Piailug. - Illustration courtesy of Tomas Belsky

By Liza Simon | OHA Public Affairs Specialist

At first glance, Tomas Belsky seems to occupy a small corner of the art world — literally speaking. His home base for making and selling art is Ka Huina — that's 'ōlelo for “corner” — and it's also the name of a Hilo gallery with a grassroots feel. But Belsky's desire to honor Polynesian navigational history has recently catapulted his work throughout the Pacific. Belsky entrusted the illustrations of his newly created Voyaging Series to the Kawaihae-based canoe club Nā Kālai Wa'a, as they set sail aboard the famed Hōkūle'a last year from Hawai'i Island to the Federated States of Micronesia with the goal of paying tribute to Mau Piailug, the Micronesian native who helped revive traditional Polynesian wayfinding across vast ocean distances. Nā Kālai Wa'a crew members honored Mau with the presentation of the Alingano Maisu, a voyaging canoe, which the local community collaboratively built in Kawaihae harbor, where Belsky paid several visits. “I was so moved by the way the construction of the Maisu brought so many people together into a living cultural classroom,” says Belsky, explaining the inspiration for his Voyaging Series.

Along with gifting the canoe, the Nā Kālai Wa'a crew members also presented Belsky's art to Mau as well as other Micronesian leaders along their route. “I wanted to show the Micronesians that we see Mau as a hero for connecting with Hawaiians and passing on his knowledge,” says Belsky. “To think that Polynesians were fearlessly out there exploring at a time when Europeans still feared the world was flat — now that took some courage and understanding,” Belsky adds.

Belsky, who is the creator of an outdoor Hilo mural depicting activities of everyday work, favors using art to honor great traditions of skilled labor. Using a woodblock-like process, his Voyaging Series renders the details of canoe-making in bold black and white images.

Copies of the series are for sale at the Hilo Ka Huina Gallery and via Belsky's website at www.tomasbelsky.com. Half of the proceeds from all sales go to the Nā Kālai Wa'a canoe club to support continued efforts to educate Hawaiian youngsters in the art of Polynesian voyaging.