Back in November (2021) I spent a weekend painting a little mural on a Little Free Diverse Library (LFDL) at Da Shop, in Kaimuki. Little Free Diverse Libraries house book selections from black, brown, and indigenous authors from local, independent bookstores to amplify and empower diverse voices.
Original concept sketch of the LFDL
My initial plan:
On one side of the box, I was going to paint an elderly woman writing in a book, representing the past (kupuna/ancestor/historian/matriarch/author). Flowing from her pen were colorful abstractions of wisdom, cultural practices, recipes, stories, poetry, philosophies, etc. The patterns and shapes would travel around the back to the opposite side of the box to embrace a young (modern) girl—perhaps a distant, or not so distant, granddaughter—as she reads from the same book, engrossed in all of the rich information. Kupuna’s pen and Keiki’s book are the same color, meant to symbolize the passing down of knowledge. Having each character on either side of the box meant that any reading material inside of the LFDL was shared between them (and subsequently any visitors who took a book or left a book).
Mural reality:
When I arrived on-site and realized how close the LFDL was to the fence and the tree, I had to quickly change my composition. Instead of Kupuna and Keiki living in different realms of space/time on opposite sides of the box, they now exist side by side on the street-facing side of the box —writing and reading together from the same book. (Maybe that’s the universe telling me kupuna and keiki -and the knowledge between them- are meant to be closer than I thought…)
Hopefully the metaphor is still clear, perhaps a little less heady, and more direct for both passers-by and LFDL contributors. I like to think of the pair as stewards of the library and guardians of the books :)
Special thanks to @uprockwoodworks for building the structure, @eeeeee_speedytu and @hifeast for coordinating, @littlefreediverselibraries and @littlefreelibrary for being the inspiration for this initiative, and @dashophnl for housing this very special Little Free Diverse Library!