Angelique Kalani Axelrode

In the abstract realm of memory, a diasporic Kānaka struggles to connect with their family and lover. By engaging with their moʻokūʻauhau (genealogy) and calling on their kūpuna (ancestors) and ke kai (ocean), they are able to cope with buried trauma and come back to themselves.Seeing memory as an intricate ʻupena (net) of both intangible and tangible threads of reality, intertwined with visceral feelings that intimately connect us with our kūpuna (ancestors) and the ʻāina (land), the art of remembering brings us back to our core.

L’Apprenante is an American college student in the process of “finding herself abroad” in Paris and taking French classes to immerse herself in the culture. In one class, she struggles to recount her weekend where she goes to a Parisian party and meets La Femme; a girl she is immediately drawn to. As she navigates the discomfort of learning a new language, she also navigates the discomfort of discovering her queerness. Will she ever be able to get out of her head, commit to the accent, and make a move? Impossible n’est pas français.