New Product: Voyage Collection
In collaboration with Maori cultural artist Sam Mangakahia, Kala presents “The Voyage Collection”— 3 unique pieces of native Maori artwork. Sam has been telling stories through his art for 13 years and has created over 450 custom art pieces that each have a story. Each of the 3 designs/stories focus on specific human experiences we all share in common — Unity, Courage and Guidance— designed with natural elements that speak powerfully to these experiences. The artwork is laser-etched on mahogany and each ukulele comes with a personalized Voyage Collection gig bag, and story card hang tag telling the unique message of each piece of art. Each of the three designs in the series come in concert and tenor sizes.
At this year's NAMM convention, we met up with Sam and he took us on a quick tour of the collection, and the meaning behind each design.
At the bottom of this page: Enter for your chance to win one (1) of two (2) Voyage Collection Ukuleles! This giveaway closes on OCT 4th, 2023 — winner will be selected and contacted by email on OCT 5th, 2023.
Aloha and Kia ora! My name is Sam Mangakahia. I'm a Māori artist, born and raised in Brisbane, Australia. I currently live on the North shore of O’ahu, in Kahuku. The Voyage Collection represents the journey of life. I've been in cultural art and design for about 13 years, and it's been a huge honor of mine to share and tell stories through my culture.
Through The Voyage Collection, I wanted to emphasize the importance of three values. The first value is courage, the next value is unity, and the last value is guidance. So through these values, I wanted to highlight and represent the different cultures of my background through the design. So, for example, if I draw your attention to this design:
This is Courage. This design represents or has a Hawaiian aesthetic to it. I currently live in Hawaii and it's been an amazing opportunity to learn the history and find what our ancestors did anciently to survive and thrive in their ecosystem. And today I invite and encourage other people to be a part of this journey with me. So this design here with the bird represents this idea of sharing and freedom.
If we move over here to this design – My background is Maori, but I have Fijian ancestors. This design represents Guidance. So with guidance, it's a conversation with people around you and those who have passed on. I think as we tap into those resources, we are better able to navigate our life today.
Then lastly, this design here with Unity– is a very important aspect for all of us to get along with each other, especially on this idea of voyaging. And so this design is close to me because of the Maori motifs within it. You'll see some coils and ferns that represent the unity and bond that we have with each other. So you'll see the hibiscus design representing the grace and that love that we share with each other.
So overall, I invite you to join me on this journey of discovering how to voyage, and how to become better each day of our lives. Thank you so much for having interest in the showing of this collection I’lI say a huge Aloha and Kia ora from Hawaii. Aloha!
Find more about Sam by visiting his website: https://www.hamiora.com or his Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/hamiora.art/
