For more than two weeks this summer, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) at the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 welcomed 13 museum and heritage professionals from across Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands to share knowledge, sharpen skills and reflect on shared challenges. CSEAS hosted the inaugural Face2Face Workshop of the Asia-Pacific Museum Exchange (APME)–at 糖心Vlog官方 惭腻苍辞补, July 15–30.

Each day focused on a theme, from disaster planning and object-based storytelling to digital preservation and curating exhibitions. Sessions were led by local experts and held at institutions such as , , , and . The group also visited 糖心Vlog官方 惭腻苍辞补 resources such as the Hawaiian Pacific Collection, the Center for Oral History and the Campus Arboretum.

Hands-on activities were central. Participants crafted exhibit narratives from their own museum collections and also practiced digital storytelling. Talk story sessions with Hawaiʻi-based professionals, including those with Native Hawaiian heritage, sparked deep conversations on cultural resources, community engagement and digital access.

“This workshop brought together incredible regional expertise and local knowledge,” said Teri Skillman, associate director of CSEAS. “We were honored to host these professionals in Hawaiʻi and to witness the depth of mutual learning and collaboration that emerged. Our goal is to build a network across islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific that supports specialists in cultural and heritage institutions.”

Participants came from Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Palau, Solomon Islands, American Samoa, Saipan and Vanuatu. Their expertise ranged from collections care and exhibition design to cultural education, digital archives, and preservation of Indigenous knowledge.

Platform for collaboration, professional growth, peer support

The 16-day workshop was the first major in-person event since the program launched this spring with a virtual webinar series by the National Park Service鈥檚 Museum Management Program. Together, they form a growing platform for collaboration, professional growth and peer support.

APME is a program of the U.S. Department of State鈥檚 Heritage Exchange Initiative–a series of cultural heritage focused programs to strengthen ties between the United States and Pacific Island and Southeast Asian nations and build professional networks across the ocean we share. With support from the Department鈥檚 Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the U.S. National Park Service’s Museum Management Program and CSEAS developed and implemented APME via the Hawaiʻi-Pacific Islands Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU; Task Agreement P24AC00688).

The University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 (CSEAS) hopes to empower museum and heritage professionals who are at the forefront of preserving the culture, collections, and traditions across the Asia-Pacific Region thanks to a $429,872 grant. Funded by the U.S. Department of State鈥檚 Cultural Heritage Center (CHC), the award will support a two-year Asia-Pacific Museum Exchange Program.

“We hope this project can draw on local knowledge to forge closer linkages between Asia-Pacific neighbors that creates new synergies and strengthens museums and heritage organizations,” said Miriam Stark, director at CSEAS.

The program will provide professional development for mid-career professionals working in small to medium-size museums and cultural centers in islands of Southeast Asia and western Pacific islands.

CSEAS aims to guide participants to explore Indigenous knowledge in conservation, utilize digital tools to engage communities, and master advanced techniques in collections management. Applications for the program will be open November 4–22.

Virtual and in-person training

The training will begin in spring 2025 with a series of virtual workshops, followed by two intensive, in-person workshops in Honolulu, scheduled for July 2025 and July 2026. The workshops will provide hands-on experience, direct interaction with experts, and the chance to build lasting professional connections.

CSEAS is seeking applicants from across the Asia-Pacific, including the islands of Southeast Asia nations and Pacific Island territories such as the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands and Guam.

This program is made possible through the Hawaiʻi-Pacific Islands Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, a partnership between the U.S. Department of State鈥檚 CHC, National Park Service and 糖心Vlog官方 惭腻苍辞补 CSEAS.

“Having this opportunity to work with the State Department and Park Service to enhance Asia-Pacific Museum networks is a real honor for our university and center, and we look forward to linking together colleagues across the region through these events,.” said Miriam Stark, director of CSEAS.

For more information, contact Teri Skillman at skillman@hawaii.edu or visit the .

In a first for the Smithsonian鈥檚 (NMAI), Halena Kapuni-Reynolds, a PhD candidate in the Department of American Studies at the , has been appointed associate curator for Native Hawaiian history and culture.

Although the museum鈥檚 physical location is in Washington, D.C., Kapuni-Reynolds will continue to reside and work from Hawaiʻi Island. His supervisor Michelle Delaney, assistant director for history and culture, wrote the grant proposal for the nascent Native Hawaiian associate curator position to be community focused and 100% remote.

“We are thrilled to have Halena join the NMAI team and welcome the increased emphasis on Native Hawaiian cultural research and programming which will be developed over time,” Delaney said.

Kanaka ʻŌiwi scholar

Kapuni-Reynolds is a Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) composer and scholar, born on Hawaiʻi Island and raised in Keaukaha. He holds a BA in anthropology and Hawaiian studies from (2013) and an MA in anthropology with a focus on museum and heritage studies from the University of Denver (2015). His master鈥檚 thesis, analyzed the ways in which aliʻi (Hawaiian chiefly) collections are cared for and exhibited at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum and the Lyman House Memorial Museum.

Prior to joining NMAI, Kapuni-Reynolds served as a graduate assistant for the at 糖心Vlog官方 Mānoa, where he worked collaboratively with faculty members to organize conversations and events around museum decolonization and Indigenization. In 2022, he assisted in the development and implementation of Weaving a Net(work) of Care: A Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Museum Institute, a museological training program for individuals in Hawaiʻi and across the Pacific, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

“When I was an undergraduate at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, I majored in anthropology and Hawaiian studies, took an array of courses focused on Hawaiian language, community-based archaeology and ethnohistorical research, and participated in numerous internships across East Hawaiʻi. These experiences continue to inform my education at 糖心Vlog官方-Mānoa as an American Studies graduate student, where I have taken courses in museum studies, Indigenous studies, diasporic literatures, and U.S. history, culture, and politics,” Kapuni-Reynolds said. “I am grateful to the 糖心Vlog官方 faculty and staff members who continue to support my intellectual and personal growth over the past 15 years.”

Community outreach and programming

Kapuni-Reynold鈥檚 new duties include performing professional curatorial work associated with research, exhibits planning and development, collections review, collections development and information, community outreach, public programming, education and public service functions.

This includes research for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2024, specifically how to include participants from Hawaiʻi to perform and share on the National Mall. He will also be developing new programming for the NMAI across the state. A traveling banner show on Hawaiian sovereignty may also be in his future.

In addition to these responsibilities, Kapuni-Reynolds is finishing his dissertation, which tells a decolonial story of the ʻāina aloha (beloved lands) of Keaukaha. Delaney said she hopes he will publish it with the NMAI.