Academy for Creative Media receives second funding for HKG Archives program

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Chris Lee, (808) 956-4578
Director, Academy for Creative Media, Office of the VP for Research
Posted: Sep 17, 2009

HONOLULU – The Academy for Creative Media has received an additional $238,000 of federal funding for the Henry Kuʻualoha Giugni (HKG) Archives Beta Pilot Program from the U.S. Department of Education with the support of U.S. Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka.
 
The HKG Archives, a digital and material archive intended to perpetuate and share the special history and culture of Native Hawaiians and the people of Hawaiʻi, honors the former United States Senate Sergeant-At-Arms–the first person of color and the first of Polynesian ancestry to hold the position–who died in 2005.  The establishment of the HKG Archives at the Academy for Creative Media (ACM) at the University of Hawaiʻi System was made possible through the efforts of Henry Giugni’s daughter, local filmmaker Heather Giugni of Juniroa Productions Inc.
 
“Heather and I are extraordinarily grateful for this second phase of funding by Senators Inouye and Akaka which will allow the HKG Archives to begin the collection, restoration, digitization and online access of Hawaiʻi’s moving image history.  We also look forward to hiring our first project manager,” said Chris Lee, founder and director of the Academy for Creative Media and principal investigator for this grant.
 
The funding will primarily be used to run the HKG Archives Beta Pilot Program scheduled to commence in October.  This includes the hiring of a project manager who will oversee the acquisition, preservation and digitization of the first collection, and the execution of the web environment for the distribution via the Internet of this virtual museum.
 
This pilot program seeks to create a representative digital collection of Hawaiian film, video and audio materials related to the history, culture and issues of Native Hawaiians and the people of Hawaiʻi.  Its focus is to foster a collaborative environment around the common challenge of how to preserve and present Hawaiʻi’s rich media heritage as well as producing new material for the archive.  
 
This is the second round of funding for the HKG Archives.  Initial funding of $191,593 was received in January to begin the establishment of this innovative archive project. 
 
The HKG Archives will solicit proposals from local and statewide organizations, institutions and other distinguished independent filmmakers for materials to be included in the collection. Selected materials will be cataloged, digitized, preserved and made accessible online.
 
For more information on the HKG Archives Beta Pilot Program, contact Chris Lee at (808) 956-4578.