Moemoeā

Moemoeā
Brendan George Ko

Moemoeā explores the revival of traditional voyaging in Hawaii and how the canoe became a catalyst for connection, cultural empowerment, and fostering humanity’s relationship with the natural world. It is a story of how ancient knowledge and modern science coalesced to revitalize a nearly extinct cultural tradition and a testament to the power of dreams, or moemoeā.

The first book, The Spell, opens with a series of lush photographs that capture life on the open ocean, lulling the reader into a sensory experience. Drawn from ancestral voyaging mythology and the artist’s own visionary dreams, fragments of narrative text ebb and flow through the book, while illustrations by Sophy Hollington serve as visual footnotes. Taking inspiration from nautical logbooks, The Spell is wire-bound into a hardcover case and incorporates luminescent paper to evoke the glistening surface of the ocean.

Tucked into a discreet back pocket, The Story features an essay by Jeremy Haik alongside Ko’s documentary photographs that highlight the visionaries who breathed life back into Hawaiian voyaging. Presented through a framework of mythology and dreams, it is a story that begins with the ancestors of Polynesians who mastered the art of celestial wayfinding and the language of the ocean three millennia before the European Age of Exploration. This remarkable chronicle is anchored by Hōkūleʻa, a modern incarnation of an ancient voyaging canoe that became a catalyst for connection, cultural reclamation, and fostering humanity’s relationship with the natural world.

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Production Specs

Trim Size: 7.5x10.5in
Page Count: 130
Binding: Wire Bound & Booklet (Singer Sewn)
Format: Hardcover
Printing: 4 Color
Paper Stock: Mixed Papers
Cover Material: Bookcloth (Navy)
Cover Details: Foil Stamp
Specialty: Die Cut Pocket

Colophon

Photographs: Brendan George Ko
Design: Studio Elana Schlenker
Publication Editor: Christina Labey
Illustration: Sophy Hollington
Text: Jeremy Haik and Brendan George Ko
Copy Editor: Elissa Rabellino

First Edition
ISBN: 978-1-950401-01-7
Edition Size: 1000