It’s time for the annual Thor Heyerdahl lecture!

Easter Island/Rapa Nui is one of the most remote and intriguing islands in the world. Located in the South Pacific, it is known for its hundreds of stone statues, “moai”, which have captured the public’s imagination. In 1955/56, the famed Norwegian explorer, Thor Heyerdahl, organized an international archaeological expedition to address the island’s many mysteries. This lecture will tell the story of this fascinating project which laid the foundation for much of the cultural and scientific research that has continued since.

Date: Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 7:00 PM PST

Location: Scandinavian Cultural Center, Pacific Lutheran University

Title: “Aku-Aku from Afar: Thor Heyerdahl’s Norwegian Expedition to Easter Island/Rapa Nui."

The Speaker: Reidar Solsvik is a Norwegian archaeologist and the curator/archivist at the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway. He has conducted archaeological field-work in the Pacific and is the author of numerous scholarly articles. Reidar is the co-author of a recent book, Drømmen om paradis: Thor Heyerdahl på Påskeøya, which documents Heyerdahl’s expedition to Easter Island/Rapa Nui.

The lecture is sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Consulate in San Francisco, the PLU Scandinavian Cultural Center, and the Ryan family.