“Contemplation” by Muramasa Kudo. From the collection of Lahaina Galleries.

This high-spirited, all-fiction issue of SPIRIT OF ALOHA, a trailblazer for the magazine, is an auspicious collaborative event among writers, artists, publishers, art collectors, galleries and other wunderkinds, and underscores the unity, we’d like to think, of the verbal and visual arts associated with contemporary Hawai‘i. In its broad but modest array, it is a mini-retrospective of Hawai‘i talent, for all of the writing and most of the art is the toil of local artists. Our debts to contributors are many and varied, but the big ones are to the following:

About half of the stories in this issue are reproduced with the cooperation and blessings of Bamboo Ridge Press, Hawai‘i’s well respected writer’s journal, founded in 1978 by local co-editors Eric Chock and Darrell Lum. (See more about this publication on page 36.) It was last May when SPIRIT OF ALOHA approached Chock at the Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival and suggested a working relationship for this special issue. Agreeing wholeheartedly, Chock sent over a small bushel of stories from previously published issues of Bamboo Ridge, plus some recommendations about who is who and what is what in Hawai‘i’s burgeoning literary world, and then wrote the introduction to this issue. Other noted writers of fiction, most of them regular contributors to SPIRIT OF ALOHA, and many of them fiction award-winners, also contributed stories, and this mix of literary styles and heartfelt reminiscences is, as far as we can tell, a first for a Hawai‘i airline magazine.

Much of the art that accompanies the writing was loaned to this issue from the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea’s collection of local art, assembled over the years by curator Julie Cline of Julie Cline Fine Art Services. About her work, Cline says: “The art of storytelling is one of Hawai‘i’s greatest gifts. Through the legacy of nostalgic songs, ancient art forms and intricate designs, we have the gift of experiencing Hawai‘i’s cultural and artistic history. ‘Ha‘ina mai ana ka puana’ shares the past, and so the story is told
to future generations.”

The collection of 280 original pieces of fine art graces the lobby areas, corridors, guest rooms and suites of the Four Seasons Resort, which recently completed a $50 million remodel. The collection—paintings, sculptures, photography, master paper works, ceramics, textiles and many artifacts—captures the rich palette and textures of Hawai‘i’s unique environment, as well as that of ancient Hawaiian traditions and the influences of cultures inherent to contemporary Hawai‘i, including Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, Caucasian, Filipino and Korean. In the resort hotel, as well as in our pages, the result is a visually captivating experience.

Our cover, by artist Darrell Hill, as well as several of our other art illustrations, were loaned to us by Lahaina Galleries, a Maui gallery started 31 years ago by owner Jim Killett. Today, the gallery represents more than 30 international artists, many of them Hawai‘i-based, and, frequently, in little wine and cheese soirées, it offers the opportunity for collectors to meet artists while they look out on the Pacific Ocean. The surrealist French artist Gil Bruvel has attended some of these, and noted that the gatherings make Lahaina Galleries rather special. “When buyers of art meet artists, both are richer for the experience,” he says. Finally, a mahalo to our featured writers and artists, who are committed to exploring and communicating the Hawai‘i experience through their crafts. We hope their work captures your imagination and, if you’re a visitor, makes you feel more at home in the Islands.