Vā Kōrero: Julian Hooper & Albert L. Refiti
Vā Moana would like to invite you to a Vā Kōrero with our own taʻitaʻi fono, Lealiʻifano Albert L. Refiti, and our colleague and friend, Julian Hooper.
Our Talanoa series comes out of our Marsden Project (2019-2023), 'Vā Moana: space and relationality in Pacific thought and identity'.
Vilsoni Hereniko is a filmmaker and professor at the School of Cinematic Arts, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Vilsoni’s research explores Indigenous storytelling, climate change, cultural identity and the politics of representation. In this talanoa with Albert L. Refiti, Vilsoni recalls his time at the University of the South Pacific in the 1970s, where he was among scholarship recipients from the region who went on to become some of the most influential artists, writers, and thinkers of Moana Oceania. Vilsoni also shares his understanding of vā through his relationship with the niu (coconut tree), which links childhood experiences in Rotuma with his present-day life in Honolulu.
To cite: Hereniko, V. (25 November 2023). Interview with Vilsoni Hereniko (Videographer/editor: Emily Parr, interviewer: Albert L. Refiti). Vā Moana: space and relationality in Pacific thought and identity interviews, AUT Vā Moana Research Centre, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Click here to watch the talanoa.
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