Art exhibition shows the humanity behind homelessness

Two artists engage in a dialogue about homelessness through their art installations at the East Hawaiʻi Cultural Center in Hilo.

Like many others, Willie Baronet wrestled with the awkwardness he felt whenever he passed a homeless person holding a sign asking for help. Unsure of the correct response, he would avoid eye contact while struggling with his moral obligations — until he decided to approach them and ask if he could buy their signs.

“Immediately the dynamic changed between us, as we both had something the other wanted. I began to see and hear them, and realized how vastly different they (and their stories) were from each other,” Baronet said.

Baronet has been purchasing signs from individuals experiencing homelessness since 1993 and has been using them in his art installations.

Artist Franciszek Orłowski developed camaraderie with unhoused individuals through deeply personal acts. After striking up a conversation with homeless people, he would offer to swap personal belongings and clothing with them, stripping down to a vulnerable state in every sense of the word.

These exchanged belongings are the basis of his work on view at the East Hawaiʻi Cultural Center. Complementing the installations by Baronet and Orłowski are photographs from Puʻuhonua o Waiʻanae — a place of refuge and empowerment for those shut out of conventional housing.

“Displacement: Art of Surviving,” the exhibition, is on view at the East Hawaiʻi Cultural Center through Sept. 26. The gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.