By Staff Reports
(Hawaii)– For the first time since limiting access in March 2020 due to the pandemic, Hamilton Library is now fully open to University of Hawaiʻi students, faculty and staff to access its resources and to visit three new exhibits of special collections. Curated by librarians and archivists from the University Archives and Manuscripts Department, and the Asia Collection, as well as community groups, the exhibits showcase Filipino-American Heritage Month (October), works from one of Hawaiʻi’s renowned photographers, the late Francis Haar, and insights and perspectives of Afghanistan.
All UH students, faculty and staff are welcome to enter the UH Mānoa Library with a valid ID and following on-campus protocols of masking and LumiSight UH clearance.
“While our staff were able to use creative and innovative approaches to continue to provide research and references to the UH community with barely any interruption, we’re excited to reopen and to present and share these fascinating new exhibits,” said Monica Ghosh, Public Services Division Head and South Asia Studies librarian.
The new exhibits on display include:
- Remembering Who We Are: Filipina/x in Hawaiʻi Decolonizing in Relation to Hawaiian Demilitarization Movements. This exhibit, curated by Ellen-Rae Cachola of the William S. Richardson School Law School, commemorates Filipino-American Heritage Month, includes moving images, archival documents, cultural objects, textile and print literature. The collection is located in the Elevator Gallery and will be on exhibit until November 30.
- Of People and Place: Highlights from the Francis Haar Collection. View photographs by Hungarian photographer Francis Haar from the 1960s and 1970s. Haar moved to Hawaiʻi in the 1960s and is known for his fine art photographs documenting Hawaiʻi dances, artists and children as well as landscapes, people and communities such as the ʻAʻala Park area during the time of reconstruction. The exhibit is on view outside of the library administrative offices on the first floor and is planned for an extended period, until May 2023. For more information on the collection and other art and architecture archives at the library, email Art Archivist Librarian Malia Van Heukelem.
- Afghanistan: “Graveyard” of Empires. With the current focus on Afghanistan in the media and in the U.S. Congress providing a backdrop to the complexities of the country, librarians Monica Ghosh, Karen Kadohiro Lauer and Patricia Polansky present an exhibit intended to provide a window into the rich and complex history of Afghanistan from a humanities perspective. The collection consists of historical materials, including examples of engagements with empire—British, Soviet and U.S.; references to languages; ethnic groups; literature; the diaspora; women; maps; and photographs by Anja Niedringhaus, an Associated Press photojournalist, who died in Afghanistan in 2014. Contactless QR codes allow viewers to link to a list of books in the display and the photo captions. The exhibit is located in the Asia Collection and will be up until January 2022.
Community members may request to view exhibits by filling the Request a Research Appointment form. At the bottom of the form under the question “Which collection do you anticipate needing to access?” select the option “Exhibits or Microfilm.” You will be contacted by library staff to set up an appointment for a viewing time.
For more information on these special collections, go to the Library’s Exhibits webpage.