“Go for broke” is a term coined on the Hawaiian islands to represent the act of “going all the way” and that was exactly what Jasper Wong did.

POW WOW started a few years ago in the city of Hong Kong. In a nutshell, Jasper grew up in Hawaii and moved to San Francisco to continue expanding his creative mind. Throughout his time there he learned art through academic programs and fellow artists. Then one day, he decided to pick up and travel to further his experiences. This journey led him to Hong Kong.

After working with Hypebeast and meeting friends from all over the globe, Jasper one day decided to push the struggling art scene in Hong Kong. In reaction, they decided to expose the city to street art and the first POW WOW was in effect. The only problem was that there wasn’t a space that made sense, so he decided to open up his own gallery to host the event. Who would have thought that the gallery would stay open for more than two years after that? CNN now considers it to be one of the best galleries in Hong Kong.

Publicity exposed Jasper and now his name is known all over media outlets such as Hypebeast, Acclaim, Vice, Complex, Hi-Fructose, etc… After a three year stint in Hong Kong, this ambitious kid with tons of knowledge and a thick resume decided to come back home and push the art movement in Hawaii.Blood, sweat, and tears made POW WOW 2011 a reality. Last February, he came down and hustled to obtain sponsors, it was harder than what he thought but, Jasper kept working at it and with help from the community he decided to “go for broke”.

Eventually, people started to take notice and the locals helped to pull it through.

Now, let the video speak for itself and get ready for POW WOW 2012, taking place in Honolulu next Febraury 19th!

HBTV: POW WOW Hawai’i 2011 – Part 1 from HBTV on Vimeo.

Amy Luu