The Art of an Ecosystem

Abstract

Anyone interested in the ecosystems of the Pacific Islands knows that at the most practical level, the “actual reality of things” is not ideal. In Hawai‘i, as elsewhere in the Pacific Islands, water is a central case in point. Therefore, it is perhaps unsurprising that the upcoming centennial of the Ala Wai canal in Waikīkī, Oʻahu is taking on new significance. Built in 1921, the canal was designed not only to help control flooding, but also to drain the area that would become Waikīkī; controlling water was then a military goal, but also a real estate project. Artist, architect, and urban planner Sean Connelly is one critic of this logic, arguing for the recovery of a more traditional approach to water management—and life—as figured by the Indigenous ahupua‘a system.