Adrienne Keahi Pao

Adrienne Keahi Pao is a Native Hawaiian photographer. She is most known for her Dress Tent installations, which have been displayed at museums worldwide.

Early life Pao was born in Oakland, California. Her mother is French and English and her father is native Hawaiian. The exhibition included her color photography that were reminiscent of "travel posters" to critique the exoticization of the islands' environment and people. In 2016, the Chain of Fire exhibit, including Pao's work, was featured in Tokyo's Mori Art Museum. Her work has also been exhibited at Wave Hill Glyndor Gallery in the Bronx, New York; the Balcony Gallery in Kailua, Hawai'i; the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco; Recoleta Cultural Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Caixa Cultural in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Dress Tents are large-scale pieces of clothing installed on specific Hawaiian landscapes and worn by female subjects. The pieces serve as critiques on a variety of themes, including gender, immigration policy, and environmental degradation, among others.

During the performance, women climbed out from the skirt and "transformed into a living, breathing, animated representation of the dashboard hula girl." The installation reflects Pao's own personal journey and experiences as a multiracial Hawaiian, serving as a way for her to "reclaim her gaze of home." In the second part of the exhibit, Pao emphasized ancestral connections via an immersive exhibition of visuals and sounds. It centers around a recording of the chant 'Eia o Ka Lani Ka Manomano ("Here is the Chief, the Great One") that Pao's father found in the Smithsonian archives.