Talanoa: Emeritus Professor Serge Tcherkézoff

Our Talanoa series comes out of our Marsden Project (2019-2023), 'Vā Moana: space and relationality in Pacific thought and identity'.

This talanoa with Emeritus Professor Serge Tcherkézoff is about his observations and growing understanding of vā, since he first visited Sāmoa in the early 1980s. As an anthropologist, he has reflected on its use in Sāmoa and in the diasporas of Aotearoa and Australia – but also on its deployment in international, mostly academic contexts as a concept in anthropology, education and health sciences. Relevant publications include First Contacts in Polynesia-the Samoan Case (1722-1848) (2008) and More on Polynesian Gift-Giving (2012). Through his wife Sueina Lokeni, Serge has ʻāiga connections to Sāmoa – they live with their sons in La Ciotat, close to Marseille in France, where the talanoa took place.

Click here to watch the talanoa.