The length of the gallery, from the window bay to the dark blue film alcove.

The Gallery

One room, open to the street.

The arches and the shutters are the hotel’s, and older than anything else in here. Everything else was put here for Duke.

The gallery is on the ground floor of the Moana Surfrider, in Lobby Suite 3. It is free to walk in, and you do not have to buy anything. This is what you will find.

i.

The window bay

Boards stand in the tall arched windows on the Kalākaua side, with flowers on the ledges and the avenue going by behind the glass. It is the first thing you see from the street.

Boards and flowers in the window bay, with the street outside.
ii.

The exhibition wall

Photographs from Duke’s life, framed in black and white down the long wall. The exhibition changes through the year.

The exhibition wall: framed black and white photographs of Duke above a long wooden table.
A round wooden table set with caps under a monstera, framed photographs on the wall behind.
The gallery from the back: a round table of caps, a monstera, shirts on the rail and boards in the windows.
iii.

The round table

In the middle of the room, under a monstera: caps carrying his wordmark, laid out the way you would set a table. Aloha shirts hang on the rail beside it, prints from the Kahala archive among them.

iv.

The boards

Koa and walnut, the grain running the length of each one, leaned rather than hung. The fins and mini boards are carved by hand by Pōhaku Stone, so no two are alike.

The nose of a koa board marked DUKE against the window glass.
Close on a striped wooden board, DUKE inlaid in white.
A koa mini board marked DUKE on a brass stand.
Dark and light wooden boards side by side, each marked DUKE.
v.

The film alcove

A condensed cut of Waterman, the documentary about Duke’s life, runs against the dark blue wall. It is about ten minutes. There are chairs. You do not have to buy anything.

The film alcove: a screen on a dark blue wall, wooden chairs, and boards leaning beside it.
Boards lean against the wall beside the screen, the same way they stand in the window bay.
vi.

In the evening

The gallery stays open until 9 pm, every day. After dark the windows go deep blue and the room glows from Kalākaua.

The gallery in the evening, lights on, boards in the darkened windows.

Contact sheet

Every corner of the room

Select a photograph to see it large.

Visit

9 to 9,
every day.9 am to 9 pm, seven days a week

Plan your visit Directions ↗
Where
Moana Surfrider
2365 Kalākaua Avenue, Lobby Suite 3
Waikīkī, Honolulu
Entry
Free. You do not have to buy anything.