Hawai’i has been a state of the USA since 1959 and has a very special history. Discovered and colonized by Polynesians more than 800 years ago, it was not until 1778 that Captain James Cook became the first European to reach the islands. Until 1893, the archipelago was a sovereign kingdom, whose last queen was overthrown in the face of fierce opposition from the Hawaiian people. Regaining the lost independence remains an important long-term political goal for many Hawaiians.

In the exhibition, contemporary works by Hawaiian artists met unique objects from the 18th century from the Cook/Forster Collection of the University of Göttingen – current explorations of the Hawaiian present and future were combined with a look into an important past.