We are thrilled to announce our second guest curator for 2024, Professor Damon Salesa. Damon is an interdisciplinary scholar focused on Oceania, deeply influenced by Indigenous Pacific cultures, particularly his own Samoan genealogy. He is an award-winning author, his most recent publication is An Indigenous Ocean: Pacific Essays which brings together two decades of award-winning scholarship, in a book that is set to become an international resource for those seeking to understand this vast ocean territory, Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Salesa locates Pacific peoples at the centre of their stories, grounding these histories in the detail and experiences of Indigenous life. The outcome is a book that makes a pivotal contribution to understanding the history and culture of Oceania.

Professor Salesa was educated in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and was the first Rhodes Scholar of Pacific descent at the University of Oxford from where he obtained his doctorate. He has held academic positions in New Zealand and the United States. Currently the Vice-Chancellor of the Auckland University of Technology, he was honoured as a Fellow of the Academy of the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2021 for his outstanding contribution to Pacific Studies.

We can't wait to see what Damon will bring to our 2024 Festival. Click here to find out more about An Indigenous Ocean: Pacific Essays