Visitors to the museum will be greeted on the stairs of the Great Court by a nine-foot (2.7m) image of the god Kū, the god of warfare and governance, dressed with a contemporary loincloth and standing atop a pole rediscovered inside a historical plinth.
A finely carved drum accompanied by an ancient chant recounting early Polynesian migrations to Hawaii will feature alongside a bowl with figure, recently returned from loan to Hawaii’s Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, that represents movements of people and objects between the Pacific and the UK.
The Anglo-Franco proclamation of 1843, on loan from The National Archives, highlights the UK and France’s formal recognition of Hawaii’s independence and emphasises diplomatic bonds between the nations.