Exhibit on "Pidgin: How was, how stay" opens on Saturday, May 7

Contact: Christina M. Higgins, (808) 956-2785 Associate Professor, Second Language Studies

The public is invited to celebrate the opening of a new exhibit on Pidgin, the creole language of Hawai‘i, on Saturday, May 7 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. at the Hawai‘i Plantation Village Museum located at 94-695 Waipahu Street in Waipahu.

The exhibit, titled “Pidgin: How was, how stay” will feature an illustrated timeline that connects history and the development of Pidgin English and Hawai'i Creole, audiovisual samples of plantation era and contemporary Pidgin, and a display on the ways Pidgin is used in today's Hawai'i.

The opening day event will include an introduction by Dr. John Rosa, assistant professor of history at UH Mānoa, tours of the exhibit, screenings of documentary films on Pidgin, fun activities about Pidgin, and local grinds. Try come!

The free event is sponsored by the Charlene J. Sato Center for Pidgin, Creole and Dialect Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and the Hawai'i Council for the Humanities. The Charlene J. Sato Center for Pidgin, Creole and Dialect Studies was established in January 2002 and its aim is to conduct research on pidgin and creole languages as well as nonstandard dialects, with a focus on research that can benefit speakers of such varieties.

For more information, please contact Associate Professor Christina Higgins at cmhiggin@hawaii.edu.