A photography exhibit by veteran Pacific journalist Floyd K. Takeuchi opens in Honolulu on September 1 with the explicit purpose of challenging local negative stereotypes about the state’s small but highly visible Micronesian immigrant population. The exhibit features full-length photographic portraits of nine women of Micronesian ancestry, all wearing the distinctive embroidered skirt that’s particularly popular in the Central Caroline Islands of Pohnpei and Chuuk.
The twist that Takeuchi introduces is that visitors to the exhibit, which is on display at the Downtown Art Center in Honolulu’s historic Chinatown District from September 1 to October 30, won’t know who the women are until they read the short biography next to each portrait. And what bios they are.
Each woman is highly accomplished, a leader in the community and in her field of endeavor. There’s Arsima Muller of the Marshall Islands, who is an attorney and partner in Honolulu’s oldest law firm, Carlsmith Ball. There’s also Nicole H. Yamase of Pohnpei and Chuuk, who just received her Ph.D. in marine biology from the University of Hawaii-Manoa. And there’s Kimberly Graham of Chuuk, an educator and social worker who earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
“This photographic project is a modest attempt to force locals in Hawaii to face their own prejudices. It uses the so-called ‘Micronesian skirt’ as a symbol of the latent discrimination that festers in our contemporary society. Hopefully these portraits of women of accomplishment and distinction are a visual wedge to begin breaking up the assumptions that we use to shield our ignorance,” Takeuchi writes in an essay that goes with the exhibit.
Former Marshall Islands President Hilda C. Heine, Ed.D., said in the catalog for the exhibit, ”The nine remarkable women who are strikingly photographed by Floyd K. Takeuchi in this exhibition are notable for at least three reasons: they are exceptional and of Micronesian ancestry; they would be the first to tell you that their distinct and rich cultural traditions helped them to become recognised leaders and role models; and, they would stand out in any crowd, not just one made of fellow immigrants from Micronesia in the United States. That’s what I see when I study these portraits of nine sisters from the Pacific.”
Besides Yamase, Graham and Muller, the other notable Micronesian women featured in the photo exhibit are Shanty Asher from Kosrae, an attorney who works for the City and County of Honolulu; Carol Ann Carl of Pohnpei, a poet and storyteller who was trained as a biochemist; Dr. Mary Therese Perez Hattori of Guam, interim director of the East-West Center’s Pacific Islands Development Program; Jocelyn Howard of Chuuk, founder and CEO of the nonprofit We Are Oceania; Isabela Silk, Consul General of the Marshall Islands to Hawaii; and, Jacqueline Keringilianged Tellei of Palau, director of Waikiki Health’s PATH Clinic and Youth Outreach.
Takeuchi is an American who was born and raised in the Marshall Islands to parents who were senior administrators in the U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands administration of Micronesia. He’s spent most of his 40-plus years in journalism involved in the Micronesia region.
