Kikilo Ke Kapu: “Look to the Past & Future of Kapu”

The Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (HMH) invites the community to experience Kikilo Ke Kapu: “Looking to the Past and Future of Kapu”, the next installment of HMH’s acclaimed Mele Program.

Join us to explore the concept of kapu! Kikilo means to look deeply, to observe with focused and careful attention. It is both an ancient Hawaiian practice and an urgent contemporary responsibility. This evening invites guests to look closely at the sacred places and history of Hawaiʻi — the kapu that maintain the genealogies, histories, and mana of generations of kānaka — and to honor the communities whose kuleana it is to protect them. Expressed through mele (song), oli (chant), and hula (dance), Kikilo Ke Kapu embodies the enduring principle of Mālama ʻĀina, Mālama Kānaka: that caring for the land and caring for the people are one and the same.

Support provided by the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority through the Kūkulu Ola program.

EVENT DETAILS

• Date & Time: Saturday, May 9, 2026 | Seating opens at 5:30 p.m. | Performance begins at 6:30 p.m.
• Location: Kahua Hoʻokipa Stage at Hawaiian Mission Houses | 553 S. King St., Honolulu 96813
• Tickets: $45 per person – Book online now!
• Culinary Experience: Gourmet charcuterie options available for purchase from Da’Cuterie by Oahu Premier Picnics.
• Beverages: Cash bar featuring beer, wine, water, and soft drinks (available from 5:30 p.m. through intermission)
• Parking: Available at Civic Center Municipal Parking (346 Alapaʻi Street) or metered street parking on Kawaiahaʻo St., Mission Lane, or South Street

WORLD-CLASS CULTURAL PRACTITIONERS

Kikilo Ke Kapu will be brought to life by the renowned musicians and dancers of Hālau Hula Kamamolikolehua under the skilled leadership of Kumu Pōhai Souza, and Hālau Mele under the direction of Kumu Sam ʻOhu Gon III and Kumu Māhealani Wong. Together, these celebrated cultural practitioners will weave historical and contemporary expressions of wahi kapu through performances that illuminate the enduring responsibility of every generation to kikilo — to look closely, to care deeply, and to protect what is sacred.

CULTURAL CONTEXT: MELE AS PRESERVATION

In Hawaiian tradition, to compose a mele for a place is to create a form of protection for it — a record held not in stone or paper but in the living memory of those who sing. Many of the chants featured in this program were composed for places that have since been dramatically altered by time, natural disaster, or the forces of colonization and development. To perform them is an act of cultural preservation as significant as any archival effort and a reminder that the future of Hawaiʻi’s sacred places depends not only on policy and law, but on the communities who remember, sing, and refuse to let these connections fade.