hapa.me – 15 Years of the hapa project

Exhibition Website

Apr 7 2018 - Oct 28 2018

        

The word “hapa” is the Hawaiian transliteration of the English word “half.” Much of its current usage derives from the phrase hapa haole, meaning “half white.” The phrase was originally coined by native Hawaiians to describe the mixed offspring resulting from encounters between islanders and White settlers. In subsequent years, hapa (or Hapa) has come into popular usage away from the islands, most frequently embraced by Asian/Pacific Islander Americans of mixed descent.

Artist Kip Fulbeck’s 2006 exhibition, kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa, remains one of the most popular in JANM’s history, setting attendance records before traveling throughout the US and abroad. The exhibition broke new ground in exploring identity through photographic portraits of mixed-race subjects, paired with the participants’ handwritten responses to the typical question, “What are you?

Since the show’s launch, America’s mixed-race population has grown exponentially, with awareness of mixed-race issues dramatically increasing alongside. Fulbeck addresses this progress with his highly anticipated follow-up project, hapa.me. In this new exhibition, the original photographs and statements from the 2006 exhibition are paired with current portraits of the same individuals and newly written statements, showing not only their physical changes over 15 years, but also changes in their perspectives and outlooks on the world. The stark, plain format of the photographs remains the same, allowing viewers to focus on the distinctive features of the subjects.

In addition, hapa.me includes portraits of hundreds of new participants as well as an interactive section where viewers can join the community by having their portrait taken and writing their own personal statement. A 200-page color catalog will be published in conjunction.


Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.         
Images, left: Amy: Chinese / Japanese / German / Hungarian / English; Photos by Kip Fulbeck
Images, right: Curtiss: Japanese / African American; Photos by Kip Fulbeck

  • Photography
  • International
  • Contemporary
  • Portrait
  • Kip Fulbeck

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