Pahu, 2007, Kala Willis, Hawai'i. Courtesy Bishop Museum. Below left: Matthew Randall, Ngai Tamanuhiri, Ngati Rakaipaaka, wood on stone. Photo: Lisa Asato.

At an international PIKO gathering for indigenous artists this summer, Kau'i Chun buried his unfinished painting in the soil of Waimea, Hawai'i Island so his ancestors could also place their mark on it.

“When our kupuna pass away, the iwi is infusing the 'āina with mana,” said Chun. “Since our family comes from Waimea, my ancestors were able to speak to this painting.”

His painting “Pele-Moana-Malamalama” – lightly soil-stained at its center – is part of the “Mai Ka PIKO Mai: Gathering of Indigenous Artists” exhibit at Bishop Museum's Joseph M. Long Gallery, running through April 6.

Featuring a little more than 40 creations, including painted drums, wood carvings, glass work and a woven flax cloak, the traveling exhibit arrived in Honolulu by way of Hilo's Wailoa Center and will next head to C.N. Gorman Museum at the University of California, Davis, in fall 2008.

Keōmailani Hanapī Foundation president Hiko'ula Hanapī suggests this itinerary for visitors to the exhibit: circle the gallery before heading to a video slide show of the gathering, situated at the far corner of the room. “Once they see the slide show then their eyes are open to a whole new understanding,” he said. “Then they go back and look at all the pieces again.”

The 12-year-old PIKO gathering – held in Hawai'i for the first time – attracted more than 100 master and emerging indigenous artists from Hawai'i, Sāmoa, New Zealand, Australia, Torres Strait, Mauritius, Australia, Cook Islands and American Indian tribes from Alaska to the American Southwest. Together, artists addressed PIKO, meaning navel or umbilical cord, as the source of artwork and as a shared connection to ancestors, landscape and each other.

Over five days, artists produced 136 works of art, many of which came out of their visit to Halema'uma'u Crater. At least several are shown in the exhibit.

For more information about the exhibit, call 847-3511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.

Indian Drum, 2007, Joan Staple-Baum, Chippewa, acrylic on stretched hide. Courtesy Bishop Museum.

Hei Tiki, 2007, Stacy Gordine, Tribal Affiliation: Ngati Porou (New Zealand); carved pounamu, New Zealand greenstone. Courtesy of Bishop Musuem.

Ceramic Bowl, 2007, Wi Taepa, Tribal Affiliation: Te Avawa (New Zealand). Courtesy of Bishop Musuem

Flax Cloak, 2007, Christina Wirihana, Tribal Affiliation: Ngati Maniapoto (New Zealand), New Zealand flax. Courtesy of Bishop Musuem.