The Australian Association for Pacific Studies Annual Lecture in memory of Epeli Hau’ofa will be presented by Tevita O. Ka’ili.
“In the beginning was the ocean” is the opening line of the Tongan creation story. Tongan deep history states that people originated in the moana (deep sea), and that Limu (seaweed) and Kele (sea sediment) are our primordial parents. Epeli’s Hau’ofa’s concept of Oceania revives an ancient cosmogony that begins with the moana and frames our advocacy for the ocean.
In this paper, Tēvita O. Kaʻili will navigate Hauʻofa’s Oceania by traversing what has now become a sea of ocean pollution, ocean acidification, rising sea levels, overfishing and deep sea mining. He will also critically examine, from an indigenous Tā-Vā (time-space) theory, the “mining” by extractive corporations, like Disney, of cultural heritage, such as stories, symbols, iconographies, objects, motifs, and deities that are associated with the ocean.”
Date: 12th April
Time: 5.30-6.30pm
Venue: Theatre, Lower Ground Floor, Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson St, Carlton
Entry is free but please book to reserve a seat by emailing rsvphumanites@museum.vic.gov.au
For inquiries or other information please contact Lindy Allen: lallen@museum.vic.gov.au; phone 8341 7386
Special Discount for Australian Association for Pacific Studies affiliated universities through April 20th
20% off Institutional DVDs
20% off Streaming Rights (send inquiries to nohohewa@gmail.com)