Featured speakers: Fran Lujan and Sergio Rapu
Hosted by Gabriela Martínez, MOLAA Director of Education
Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, is a microcosm of a planet in flux. Eating Up Easter explores the challenges faced by the Rapa Nui people, and the intergenerational fight to preserve their culture and a beloved environment against a backdrop of a modernizing society and a booming tourism trade.
Please join us for a conversation on the unique situation of the island and people of Rapa Nui. Fran Lujan presents Oceania 101, a history of the region which explores Rapa Nui’s place within the Pacific Islands. Film director Sergio Rapu will talk about his experience growing up on the island and the motivation behind the film Eating Up Easter. Registrants can access the film prior to the event and are encouraged to submit questions to be answered during the live broadcast.
Presented in partnership with Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum (PIEAM)
Fran Lujan
Fran Lujan is Museum Director and Curator of the Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum in Long Beach, California. An indigenous CHamoru woman from the Pacific Island of Guahan (Guam), Fran is the granddaughter of an indigenous master blacksmith and member of an extended family of cultural practitioners and artists. She is inseparable from her bloodline. In her presence and practices, Fran honors her Pacific Islands ancestors and uplifts all indigenous peoples in roots and in routes.
Sergio Rapu
Native Rapanui Producer/Director Sergio Mata’u Rapu has spent the last fifteen years producing documentaries specials and series that have aired on History Channel, Travel Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, and PBS. As one of the only native Rapanui working in production in an English-speaking country, he seeks to foster indigenous producers throughout the West. Through his work, Sergio aims to show the complexity of life through thought-provoking media in order to inspire resolutions to social, economic, and environmental conflicts.