Kalaupapa Photos On View At WCC Gallery

Wayne Levin is the second artist to be featured in Gallery Iolani’s Photo Trilogy. Levin’s artwork documents Kalaupapa on the island of Molokai and will run from March 2 to April 1.

An artist’s reception will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. this Friday at the gallery, located at Windward Community College.

Residents are invited to view Levin’s photos, which he began shooting in 1984 during the final years of Kalaupapa. Though they depict families being torn apart, Levin hopes that this exhibition will connect families to their historical links to Kalaupapa by documenting some aspects of the past in relation to the present.

His photos display the strength, courage, dignity and kindness of those who lived on the settlement, where Father Damien served Hansen’s disease patients until his death.

The show is presented by Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the value and dignity of every individual who was taken from their family and sent to Kalaupapa starting in 1866 because of government policies on leprosy.

Gallery hours are weekdays and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. and also from 6 to 8 p.m. Mondays. It will close March 26-30 for spring recess but will reopen March 31 for the Paliku Arts Festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, call gallery director Toni Martin at 236-9150 or visit gallery.wcc.hawaii.edu.