Hawaiʻi is celebrating August as Kapa month, with an all-day public event on the grounds of ʻIolani Palace this Friday and a pop-up gallery on Oʻahu's west side.

• Friday's free event runs from 10 to 5 at ʻIolani Palace, with demonstrations of every stage of making kapa — the traditional Hawaiian bark cloth — and a chance to try it yourself.
• The gathering is part of a wider conference reuniting the elders who revived kapa-making during the Hawaiian Renaissance with a younger generation now carrying it on.
• The palace is opening up its own rarely-seen kapa collection, beautiful pieces most practitioners had never viewed before.
• About 15 to 16 makers have created handmade and kapa-inspired goods to sell, part of a program aimed at keeping the craft alive and earning income from it.
• A kapa art gallery is set up in the back of a west-side shop at Kamakana Aliʻi, open through the end of the month, so locals can walk through and get inspired.

Outlook: Organizers hope the palace event and gallery draw new interest and keep Hawaiian kapa evolving as a living craft rather than a museum piece.