HONOLULU – Many will often speak of the cultural diversity that Hawaii engenders in its people, its culture, and its lifestyle, but to see it in action is a whole other experience. Growing up in Hawaii, I found that the amalgamation of cultural expressions became somewhat of a normal thing for me. It’s just become something quotidian that I don’t find myself consciously thinking about on a day-to-day basis. However, I have found that if there is anything that will prompt me to reflect about culture in the moment, it’ll usually be in the form of the arts. Since art is an expression-based creation that’s extremely personal, it often causes me to think about the influences upon the artist to create a certain piece. On top of that, I like to think about the artist’s creation and how it affects the cultural sphere it exists within. Well, that’s exactly the type of reaction I got when I took a trip up to the Honolulu Museum of Art, Spalding House (herein after referred to as the Spalding House).

Situated up on Makiki Heights, the Spalding House houses art from around the world. Admission to the museum is $10 for adults, but free for anyone 17 years old and under. I also discovered that admission is free for students of any level, visiting the museum for educational purposes. They’re closed on Mondays, but they’re open from 10am to 4:30pmTuesday through Saturday. They’re also open on Sundays, but their hours are just a tad shorter, at 1pm to 5pm. For the past few years, they’ve been featuring rotating exhibitions, which focus on art and practicality. When I went on aTuesday, their gallery presented an installment titled Plastic Fantastic, which explores the use of plastic as a medium for art, as well as the environmental impacts it has on the Earth. Speaking to the volunteer up at the front desk, the featured exhibition is neither encouraging the use of plastics nor discouraging them.

A little further deeper into the museum grounds, there’s an enclosed pavilion structure perched on a slight hill. This is where my experience at the Spalding House really started. The pavilion, as I would later discover, was built specifically to house the permanent installation that now resides in it: David Hockney’s L’Enfant et Les Sortilèges. Unlike the Plastic Fantastic exhibition, Hockney’s exhibit was acquired and presented to the public in 1988. This is a 3 dimensional immersive experience, using captivating backdrops in combination with alluring music to recreate the environment first introduced in Maurice Ravel’s 1981 play, L’Enfant et Les Sortilèges. To add to that, the art on display in the pavilion is a re-presentation and a re-interpretation by David Hockney of his original set pieces and was crafted to the exact specifications desired by the artist.

Stepping through the double doors of the pavilion, I was greeted with refreshing air conditioning, which contributed to the overall feeling of stepping into another world. Music from the original opera is playing faintly in the background, and I found it to be both haunting and enchanting when walking through the exhibit. The whole exhibit is split into two portions: there is the front section and the back. The front contains small set pieces like a painted cat and a fireplace, and also has information about the artist, David Hockney, and the history of the exhibit itself. It takes up about a quarter of the entire floor space, as the rest is dedicated to the back portion of the exhibit. Stepping through a small opening, the next room it lead to opened up to a chilling and magical scene. I felt as though I were transported altogether into an alternate universe. The red hues from the light, mixed in with dark blues from other parts of the art exhibit. The walls, which are actually canvas, are painted with little creatures and winged minions flying everywhere. The painting and the style is not what you’d expect from an international-level opera stage set in that it doesn’t have the super fine detailing that other sets possess. But I find that it doesn’t need to. The overall style of Hockney’s art lends a childlike innocence to it that really compliments the play itself, since it was centered around the character of a child. Not only that, but I learned that David Hockney has a condition known as synesthesia. This means that certain stimuli to one sense is experienced in another, second sense. In Hockneys case, he experiences colors through sounds. How cool is that? I learned that he utilized his ability for color and sound when re-interpreting the stage set by playing the soundtrack on repeat as he let his paintbrush flow to the sounds he was visualizing. I think that it really shows in the work he produced, as I could just feel the artistic expression emanating from the images on the walls, breathing in the music and the colors that surrounded me.

The most striking thing to me about this whole thing as I was experiencing this was the fact that the art presented here wasn’t what one would typically expect to see when thinking about a permanent exhibition. As I said earlier, I like to think about the influences on the artist when creating their works, but also the impact it has on the artistic environment it exists within. For a French operatic stage set to exist indefinitely in a Hawaii contemporary art museum, I wondered just what exactly that was saying about the art culture here. While visiting the Spalding House, I had the privilege of talking to a very knowledgeable guide, Dietra, who taught me much about the historical significance of the Hockney installation. But asking for her opinion as to why the Spalding House chooses to feature this exhibit out of the many, left her stumped. And rightfully so, as it’s not an easy question to answer. As I reflect upon my visit to the Spalding House, I like to think of the entire experience as a microcosm to the bigger art scene and cultural diversity that Hawaii invites. I say this because art is mercurial and constantly changing, just like the rotating exhibitions featured in the galleries. On the other hand, the permanence of L’Enfant et Les Sortilèges speaks to the variety of cultures that have been accepted and made Hawaii their home here on a much larger scale. It’s interesting to think that the addition of a French operatic stage set actually enriches the diversity of Hawaii, rather than detracts from it. I think that the Spalding House is doing something right here. One can add to culture and leave their mark on it, without diminishing anyone or anything else that’s contributed either. And that is absolutely what David Hockney’s L’Enfant et Les Sortilèges art work is doing, all thanks to the Spalding House.

If, after reading this and/or watching the video, you’d like to visit this place for yourself, their website can be found here for more information or you can give them a call at (808) 237 – 5225 if that’s more your style. This is a place I frequently visit, just to check out the art and to enjoy the grounds. I’d highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a nice place to enjoy the day with your loved ones or simply by yourself.