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Chinatown 2.0

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  • Chinatown 2.0

    Mayor envisions Chinatown as arts, cultural center
    Crystal Kua, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Monday, March 28, 2005
    Chinatown holds special boyhood memories for Mayor Mufi Hannemann... Hannemann also has a love of the arts, which he hopes to marry with his desire to see Chinatown and the surrounding downtown Honolulu area become a destination for arts and culture on Oahu to boost economic benefits. "I want to make Chinatown come alive in the evening," he said. "What I want to now do is bring in the arts community, make this truly the arts center. ... If you want arts and culture, that's where you go."
    I love Chinatown. It's home to some of the best... er, "local color" you can find in Honolulu. Of course, there are both spectacular and rich elements, and a few bad elements as well. I think this is an interesting initiative, but in the end I hope Chinatown isn't "cleaned up" to the point of being a sterile, artificially preserved "picture" of culture than a thriving, living hub of it.

    I could probably do without the pee-filled doorways, but the ocassional disheveled evangelizing bible thumper? Why not?
    "I think what's been missing was a mayor that's going to pay attention to Chinatown the way the last mayor paid attention to Waikiki," Hannemann said.
    Hmm. I hope he's not saying he wants another Waikiki. Just a more local-facing investment of capital and political attention.

  • #2
    Re: Chinatown 2.0

    Aren't most of the art galleries there not doing well though? Even with First Fridays? As I recall Studio One just closed down recently.

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    • #3
      Re: Chinatown 2.0

      If I recall correctly, (I was on their mailing list and regularly attended events there), Studio 1 aspired to be more than simply an "art gallery." It was to be a space for performance art, was a nightclub some evenings, had a bar, etc. Actual gallery art hanging on the walls was almost secondary there. When attendance at the evening events (the nightclub part, the various poetry events--other than the First Thurs Poetry Slam), etc. decreased, then Studio 1 wasn't making enough money and had to close down. I don't think Studio 1 quite fits the idea of "traditional" art gallery.

      I must admit that I don't know much about how the other galleries are faring. I've definitely succumbed to the allure of First Fridays and purchased things from the various galleries, and the First Friday events are always well-attended these days (quite a change from the measly few people who went to the first few Frist Fridays!), so I hope business continues to increase from exposure due to First Fridays. Each time I go, there seems to be a new gallery added to the list--and when I'm walking around, it seems like there are new restaurants slowly opening up in the evenings there too. I'm crossing my fingers for a revitalized Downtown/Chinatown!

      Originally posted by terramera
      Aren't most of the art galleries there not doing well though? Even with First Fridays? As I recall Studio One just closed down recently.

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