Guam featured in Al Jazeera documentary series
AJ+, an online media channel under the Al Jazeera Media Network, produced a four-part online video series exploring Guam’s relationship with the United States entitled “Guam: What it means to be from a U.S. territory.” The series delved into Guam’s political status and the cultural effects of the island’s relationship with the United States and features interviews with a variety of local individuals such as activists, military veterans, World War II survivors and University of Guam professors Michael Lujan Bevacqua and Anne Perez Hattori.

Guam art exhibition opens in Korea
The Guam Visitors Bureau and Lotte Department Store launched the Guam Eco Wave art exhibition at the Yeongdeungpo Gallery in Seoul on Aug. 1. The exhibition, which was also showcased in Lotte’s galleries in Anyang and Busan, featured art work by Guam-based artists Judy Flores and Lee Hyun Jin, as well as Korean artists Kim Gun Joo, Kang Nanan, Lee Mi Ju, Bang Ji Hee and Son Jung Chun. The exhibition was displayed from August to October.

Korean pop group to feature NMI in photobook
Korean pop group BTS will feature the Northern Mariana Islands in their next photobook, according to an Aug. 2 release. BTS — also known as Bangtan Boys — is the first Korean pop group to win a Billboard Music Award and has 7.2 million followers on Facebook. The group releases an annual photobook which has proven popular with its fans.

MVA joins 2018 JATA tourism expo
The Marianas Visitors Authority joined the 2018 Japan Association of Travel Agents Tourism Expo, which was held from Sept. 20 to Sept. 23. The event is Japan’s largest annual travel show and featured more than 1,400 businesses and 207,000 visitors from more than 130 countries and regions. The MVA booth featured arts and crafts, music and media presentations promoting the Northern Mariana Islands as a tourist destination.

MVA launches revamped English-language site
The Marianas Visitors Authority launched its newly designed English-language website at mymarianas.com, according to an Aug. 3 release. The site is more user-friendly, features new images and for the first time features the Northern Mariana Islands’ northern most islands due to their growing popularity with fully independent travelers. The website includes information on accommodations, activities, historic and scenic sites.

Palau Pledge wins advertising award
Australian marketing company Host/Havas won the 2018 Ad Stars Grand Prix for its creation and implementation of the Palau Pledge, according to an Aug. 27 announcement. The Palau Pledge is a program in which visitors to Palau must sign a pledge to respect the nation’s natural environment that is stamped into their passport. The program also includes an education and awareness campaign.

Henry Kapono’s “The Songs of C&K” available exclusively at First Hawaiian Bank
“The Songs of C&K”, an album commemorating the 45th anniversary of Hawaiian musical group C&K, were available from Aug. 1 to Sept. 25 in CD format with a digital download exclusively at First Hawaiian Bank branches in Hawaii, Guam and Saipan.

The album featured popular Hawaiian artists covering songs from C&K’s catalog. Proceeds from the album went toward the Henry Kapono Foundation, which aims to develop and promote Hawaiian music.

Department of Defense improves website
The U.S. Department of Defense launched its revamped website
Defense.gov on Oct. 3. The new site uses the latest web technology to provide an improved user experience that presents content geared for a larger domestic audience. The site is also more easily accessible on mobile devices and includes a question-and-answer section. Defense.gov aims to provide timely Cabinet-level news.

Archdiocese radio station undergoes repairs
The Archdiocese of Agaña’s radio station, KOLG 90.9, temporarily went off the air starting Sept. 14. to undergo repairs. The station’s tower was damaged by high winds from Typhoon Mangkhut, which struck the island on Sept. 3. The station was still off the air as of press time.

Isla Center for the Arts holds printmaking exhibit
The University of Guam’s Isla Center for the Arts held a contemporary printmaking exhibit that ran from Sept. 27 to Oct. 26. The exhibit, “Bonding: An Exhibition of Contemporary Printmaking,” was curated by Irene Keckes, assistant professor of art at UOG, and addressed various social issues through the artists’ work. The exhibit was free and open to the public.

National Park Service holds Art in the Park program
The National Park Service held the Art in the Park program from Sept. 29 to Oct. 27 at Asan Beach. The program featured workshops where people could learn various traditional art forms and techniques from around Micronesia. Workshops included traditional bead and mwarmwar headdress making and lava lava weaving.

MVA and GVB promote the islands in Korea
The Marianas Visitors Authority and Guam Visitors Bureau participated in the 2018 Mode Tour International Travel Mart from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 in Seoul to promote the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. More than 110,700 visitors attended the event over four days. MVA sold more than 800 tour products for the NMI and GVB recorded more than 2,100 sales related to Guam tour packages.

Castro Art Gallery holds first official exhibit
The Castro Art Gallery in the Tumon Sands Plaza presented “Roots of Passage,” its first official exhibit, on Oct. 5. The exhibit featured works from Ric Castro’s ongoing “Junglescapes of Guam” series. The Castro Art Gallery held a soft opening on Aug. 10.

Photo courtesy of University of Guam Press

UOG Press releases children’s book
“Chepchop Unai”, a children’s book by local author Catherine Payne and illustrated by Neill Catangay, was released on Sept. 1 at the University of Guam’s Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Library. The book is published by Taguini Books, a division of The University of Guam Press. The book focuses on intergenerational sharing of Chamorro culture and is available at local bookstores as well as the UOG Triton Bookstore, Bonita Baby, and online at uog.edu/uogpress and amazon.com.

Photo courtesy of Mark Dell’Isola

Hyatt hosts local artist’s 3-D exhibition
Sagan Kotturan Chamoru Cultural Center artist-in-residence Mark Dell’Isola’s work will be exhibited in the Hyatt Regency Guam lobby from Oct. 26 to Jan. 11. The exhibition features paintings based on 3-D optical illusions derived from spiral cone shells, elements of the Pacific and the color spectrum. Dell’Isola, whose work was presented at the 2016 Festival of the Pacific Arts on Guam, has studios in the Rock Islands of Palau, Bali, Japan and Germany.

(From left): Koharu Minato, Kyle Halehale, Angelyn Sobrevilla, Kiarra Hutcherson, Alexander Stenson, Marcus Lopez and Hannah Cruz, all players of the Guam Football Association.
Photo courtesy of Guam Football Association

Guam Football Association partners with Italian apparel company
The Guam Football Association has partnered with Italian sports apparel and equipment provider, Macron. Both the Matao and Masakåda, Guam men’s and women’s national teams, respectively, debuted their new Macron kits Sept. 2 at the East Asian Football Federation E-1 Football Championship Preliminary Competition Round 1 in Mongolia.