Take in highlights as Honolulu Biennial winds down

Time is running out on the inaugural Honolulu Biennial, which closes May 8 after a two-month run. The art festival, whose theme is “Middle of Now|Here,” features contemporary works by 33 artists from Hawaii, the Pacific and Asia at nine venues around Oahu.

“The response from the community, and not just the arts community, has been incredible,” said Isabella Ellaheh Hughes, director and co-founder of the Honolulu Biennial Foundation. “The comments we have been getting from art visitors from off island is that the Biennial is very reflective of this place. The nature of the works are responsive to ideas, histories and narratives that are incredibly relevant locally.”

Here are five highlights to visit/revisit:

1. “I’M HERE, BUT NOTHING” BY YAYOI KUSAMA

IBM Building, Ward Village, 1240 Ala Moana Blvd.; open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Wednesdays

Escorts take visitors up to the third floor to experience a magical, polka-dotted room that reflects Kusama’s hallucinatory experiences. The renowned artist, who lives in a mental hospital in Japan, is known for her polka-dot motifs that are symbolic of the sun and other natural elements.

The installation was created with vinyl stickers, UV lights, furnishings and household objects, including a bed with a Hawaiian quilt, a surfboard, a copy of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser next to a cup of tea on a coffee table and several plush dogs, including the mascot for Central Pacific Bank. Look for framed photos of Kusama on the bookshelf. The artist is also featured in a video sitting in a field of sunflowers.

2. “GATHER TOGETHER” BY CHOI JEONG HWA

Honolulu Hale, 530 S. King St.; open 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays

Even the discarded and overlooked can be transformed into sculptural art. Witness the noted Korean artist’s towering pillars of plastic buoys in the lobby, gathered from Hawaii’s coastlines by Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii. Hwa specializes in moving inflatables, and his hot-pink, flying pig in front of The Hub and the 26-foot-wide “Breathing Flower,” pictured, at the IBM Building courtyard are Instagram-ready.

3. “DIRECTIONS (HONOLULU)” BY MOHAMMED KAZEM

The Arts at Marks Garage, 1159 Nuuanu Ave.; open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

The Dubai artist made vinyl text of the geographic coordinates of all 33 artists participating in the Honolulu Biennial and transferred it onto the windows of the community arts center in Chinatown. Kazem mixed up the coordinates to create a work without geographic borders and to break down the barriers that divide humanity. Visit in the late afternoon, when sunlight filters through, projecting the coordinates onto the floor.

4. “GRAFFITI NATURE” BY TEAMLAB

The Hub at Ward Village, 333 Ward Ave.; open noon to 7 p.m. daily except Wednesdays; $10 general admission, $7 kamaaina, free for 17 and under

Likely the most popular exhibit in the Biennial, especially for kids and kids at heart, this interactive digital installation by the Japanese collective teamLab invites visitors to draw living things. The images are then scanned and projected on the floor of the darkened exhibit space, with the animals moving about, “expressing the concept of the food chain and the law of the jungle,” according to the Biennial program.

5. “BORROWED TIME” BY LYNNE YAMAMOTO

Foster Botanical Garden, 180 N. Vineyard Blvd.; open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily; $5 general admission, $3 kamaaina, $1 for keiki ages 6-12, free for keiki 5 and under

One of five artists featured at the city garden, Yamamoto created a wooden installation celebrating the bungalows and plantation-style homes still visible in the surrounding neighborhood where she grew up, as well as in lower Punchbowl, Kaimuki and Palolo. Her front porch that faces Nuuanu Valley is a welcoming place to sit.