Honolulu Biennial Launches in 2017 with Fumio Nanjo as Director

Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii, is launching its first contemporary art biennial, titled Middle of Now. Here., running from March 8 to May 8, 2017. The event is directed by Fumio Nanjo, director of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, with curatorial support from Ngahiraka Mason, formerly of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. The biennial aims to highlight Hawaii's position as a cultural crossroads between Japan, Australia, and the United States, moving beyond its reputation as a vacation destination. Thirty artists from the Pacific Islands, Asia, North America, Australia, and New Zealand are invited, including Yayoi Kusama, Choi Jeong Hwa, Zhang Wang, Lee Mingwei, Eko Nugroho, Vernon Ah Kee, Alexander Lee, Greg Semu, John Vea, Sama Alshaibi, Mariquita Micki Davis, and local Hawaiians Andrew Binckley and Sean Connelly.