The heart of Mauna Kea

Brass hope chests, lacquered wooden drums, gilded bronze sculptures, dragons covered with mosaics of mirrored glass — 1,600 treasures from India, Asia, Southeast Asia and the islands of the Pacific adorn the lobby, corridors and courtyards of Hawaii island’s Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, the grande dame of Hawaii resorts.

There are stories behind each magnificent piece, and Patti Cook, a longtime Hawaii island resident who handled public relations for the hotel from 1972 to 1991, knows many of them. She has been leading a free weekly tour of this vast collection of museum-quality art since 1993.

The late Dr. Don Aanavi, a professor of art history at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, started the tour in the early 1980s at the request of Adi Kohler, Mauna Kea’s general manager at the time. "After he retired, Don trained me to do the tour, though I had very big shoes to fill given his deep knowledge about both the art and the practices and beliefs of world religions," Cook said. "Don was the scholar; I’m just a passionate storyteller and art aficionado."

Even so, her narrative is chock-full of fascinating tidbits and anecdotes. Laurance Rockefeller, Mauna Kea’s founder and first owner, was actively involved with the design of the hotel, including selecting the art, which dates from between the sixth and 20th centuries.

"Mr. Rockefeller set two rules about the art acquisitions," Cook said. "First, they should be authentic originals; and second, they had to come from the country of origin. The rules were about provenance, meaning you knew where the objects came from and perhaps some of their stories."

Among the most prized and imposing pieces is a 5-foot-3-inch-tall Buddha from Naga­pat­ti­nam in South India. Dating from the sixth century, it was sculpted of pink granite and sits at the top of a three-story flight of wooden steps as the East-meets-West signature of the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel.

"The staircase provides a dramatic, culturally appropriate path up to the Buddha because Buddha’s heart should always be above man’s eyes," Cook said. "A bodhi tree is behind the Buddha, which is also culturally appropriate because Buddha is said to have meditated under a bodhi tree for seven years before he achieved enlightenment."

Carved of camphor wood, the 14th-century Buddha from Japan displayed behind the front desk is the most valuable piece in the collection. That’s because even though it’s made of wood and is more than 700 years old, it’s in superb condition, likely due to the fact that camphor’s strong scent repels insects.

As with many Buddha images, both forefingers of the 25-inch-tall sculpture touch the tips of its thumbs. "Whenever we see a Buddha with this gesture, art experts tell us we should look at his eyes," Cook said. "If they are open, he is teaching. The eyes of this Buddha are closed, meaning he is meditating. What’s also of note is the tremendous amount of time and effort the artist put in to create the rippling, flowing effect of the Buddha’s robes using the natural grain of the wood."

Hawaii became America’s 50th state in 1959. When Rockefeller visited the new Aloha State in the early 1960s, only a few people were practicing Hawaiian quilting; the cultural renaissance that revived such arts would not occur for another decade. Moreover, tradition dictated knowledge about quilts was to be kept in the family.

"If we were not family and you invited me to your home, you first hid your quilts because woven into them were your family’s mana (spirit) and personal stories," Cook said. "For 150 years, from the time the missionaries arrived in Hawaii in 1820 to the 1970s, quilting was pretty much a secret activity, literally kept in the closet."

Rockefeller commissioned respected Oahu quilter Mealii Kalama and her friends to make 30 Hawaiian quilts, which were unveiled at Mauna Kea’s grand opening on July 24, 1965. "It was the first time there had been a public exhibition of Hawaiian quilts in Hawaii," Cook said. "It was the catalyst for a big shift in thinking about quilts — that it was OK to bring them out of hiding to be celebrated, cherished and perpetuated."

Just five of the 25 quilts now on view in the halls of the hotel’s fifth and sixth floors were among the original commissions. The others were made by Kalama and her friends in the mid-1970s to replace quilts that had been badly damaged by the sun and bugs (framing the quilts with UV-protective glass has addressed that problem).

Interestingly, only a few other objects are framed or in display cases. "Exposure to insects and the elements, especially the sun, are constant challenges, and the hotel’s staff works to appropriately protect and preserve what are, in many cases, national treasures," Cook said. "That said, Mr. Rockefeller felt Mauna Kea was like his home, and he wanted guests to experience the hotel and its art in that way. You wouldn’t put barriers or ‘Don’t Touch’ signs by the art in your home; you would just enjoy it. And so it is with the art of Mauna Kea."

‘The Art of Mauna Kea’

In 1990, coinciding with its 25th anniversary, the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel partnered with the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s East-West Center to publish “The Art of Mauna Kea,” a 180-page full-color coffee-table book about its acclaimed art collection. It was written by the late Don Aanavi, a renowned art historian who lived on Hawaii island.

The second edition of the book was released in 2003. Only about a dozen copies remain in the hotel’s inventory; they are available at the Golf Shop for $75. Used copies in good condition can be purchased on amazon. com. The book can also be borrowed through the Hawaii State Public Library system.

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.