Drew Kahuʻāina Broderick and Josh Tengan connected in 2019 at the Curatorial Intensive in Auckland, New Zealand. Both came to the Intensive from Hawaiʻi; Broderick had returned home after completing a Masters degree at Bard College, and Tengan was working as Assistant Curator for the second Honolulu Biennial.
After the Intensive, the two continued to collaborate on projects related to Native Hawaiian art and activism. During the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns they jointly contributed to ICI's exhibition Notes for Tomorrow, selecting Wayne Kaumualii Westlake's 1979 HULI, a print artwork that channeled a critical sentiment in Native Hawaiian activism and speaks powerfully to grassroots decolonization movements worldwide.
In 2022, Notes for Tomorrow traveled to Koa Gallery at Kapiʻolani Community College, where Broderick had recently become director. Later that year, Tengan became Associate Director of Puʻuhonua Society, and the two continued to collaborate on projects there. They also both contributed to the inaugural Hawaiʻi Triennial.
ʻAi Pōhaku, Stone Eaters unfolded across six sites of the University of Hawaiʻi system over 2023, the first large-scale exhibition of Native Hawaiian art at the university in over 20 years, and featured an intergenerational group of 40 multi-disciplinary artists. It also presented a series of programs that used informal gatherings to elevate Native Hawaiian voices and presences, in keeping with the exhibition's collaborative curatorial approach.