EP 63 Museum studies director Noelle Kahanu on repairing the human connection between land and people through the arts

Noelle MKY Kahanu is a bridge builder across art, policy and social justice through her work as a museum curator, legal scholar, Hawaiian rights activist, and teacher. She is a University of Hawaiʻi Specialist and Interim Director for Museum Studies Graduate Certificate Program, having worked for fifteen years previously as a curator and program lead for the Bishop Museum. Noelle tells us of traversing the many worlds of art and activism, beginning in her youth with close family and friends who were involved in class struggles. In this interview, Noelle speaks to a lifetime of "heart work" that combines deep empathy, fortitude and analytical skills–from repatriating Hawaiian human remains to ethnographic and contemporary art exhibitions around radical renewal and healing among often overlooked communities.