The Bishop Museum’s new exhibit on Duke Kahanamoku will not only celebrate one of Hawaii’s most favorite sons, it will also show off the best of the museum’s extensive collection of archival photographs, video and artifacts drawn from his life.

The exhibit, which opens Sunday and runs through Nov. 30, marks the 125th anniversary of Kahanamoku’s birth.

Born in 1890, Kahanamoku became Hawaii’s first Olympic swimmer and was the earliest proponent of surfing. His prowess in the water, affable personality and good looks made him internationally famous.

“Duke is still a famous person,” said museum historian DeSoto Brown. “In his lifetime he was the most famous Hawaiian who existed. He is revered among surfers and those who know sports.”

It’s possible now, with the reach of the Internet, that Kahanamoku is more famous than when he lived, Brown said. Kahanamoku died in 1968.

The museum has hundreds of photographs of Kahanamoku to choose from, four of his six Olympic medals, his Honolulu sheriff’s badge, merchandise he sold under his name (floral-print tennis shoes, aloha shirts, ukulele, drinking glasses) and a 10-foot surfboard — a weathered redwood slab with “DUKE” engraved on it.

“We have shown items before this from time to time in other exhibits,” Brown said. “But we never had an exhibit that focused exclusively on Duke.”

A key feature of the exhibit is an interactive surfing simulator that allows users to ride a computerized version of a wave Kahanamoku rode for a mile.

The simulator, created by Bishop Museum exhibit designer Michael Wilson, has a 5-foot wooden board mounted on skateboard trucks. Riders can bank left or right while a video monitor in front of them displays a breaking wave.

The wave is an important part of the Kahanamoku story — as big as winning at the Olympics, Wilson said — and the simulator will let visitors step into the surfer’s life.

“We want people to be engaged for a minute and a half, to be immersed in the story and then want to learn more about the exhibit,” Wilson said. “They will get adrenalized and stick around.”