Canarian Weekly
18-01-2013, 13:00
THOR HEYERDAHL, the renowned adventurer with major connections to Tenerife, won an Oscar in 1951 – and he is on course to win another next month.
The Norwegian, who will forever be linked to the Guimar Pyramids over here, set out in 1947 on an epic voyage to prove a theory he held after a trip to Polynesia, which convinced him that the culture there bore traces of South American cultures.
His journey entailed travelling on a balsa-wood raft, some 8,000 kilometres across the Pacific Ocean from Peruto Raroia, and manned by a six-man team.
His voyage became known as the Kon Tiki Expedition, and his purpose was to prove that Polynesia could be populated from South America.
He told author Per Lillieström, who wrote the 1999 book No Boundaries: “I travelled on the reed boat with a crew of all races, partly to show my contempt for racism.”
Despite encountering a lot of opposition, his theory turned out to be right. And wrong!
Heyerdahl documented his epic journey in a book – one of 20 he wrote, which were all published in 50 languages – and he won his Oscar in 1951 for his film Kon Tiki, made the previous year about his voyage.
Incredibly, 61 years later, in 2012, another film, also called Kon Tiki, was made about the same expedition.
Now, it has been nominated for an Oscar at next month’s Academy Awards, for Best Foreign Language film, and has already been sold to 50 countries.
Heyerdahl, an ethnologist (the branch of anthropology which deals with the origin, distribution, and characteristics of human racial groups), was born on 6th October 1914 in Larvik.
He died at the age of 87 in 2002 in Italy, where he was on holiday with family friends, having spent his last years in Tenerife.
Hadia Tajik Norway’s Minister of Culture, said: “It will be exciting to follow the Oscar ceremony on 24th February.”
The film, released in Norwegian cinemas last August, sold 164,191 tickets the first weekend, having previously beaten all records for a film premiere in that country.
It is the most expensive documentary ever made in Norway, and it faces stiff competition from Amour, No and A Royal Affair, the other nominations in the Best Foreign Language Film class
Tenerife residents in the northern town of Guïmar will almost certainly be familiar with Heyerdahl because he lived there from 1994 and actually developed the Pyramid Park, which is regarded as one of the major landmarks on the Island.
It was, and still is, a fascinating exhibition, showing how he took advantage of several disciplines across the divide between science and social science.
Thor used to take daily trips to the Pyramid Park from the orange orchard, where he settled with his third wife.
Thor, also known as an archaeologist, biologist, anthropologist, ethnographer and zoologist, studied biology at the University of Oslo, doing his fieldwork in anthropology.
Curiously, he did not like to be called an adventurer, since he maintained his sole purpose was research.
But for the story of his epic expedition to gain another Oscar, 20 years after his death, would surely be the adventure to end all adventures!
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/heyerdahl-sets-sail-oscar/)
The Norwegian, who will forever be linked to the Guimar Pyramids over here, set out in 1947 on an epic voyage to prove a theory he held after a trip to Polynesia, which convinced him that the culture there bore traces of South American cultures.
His journey entailed travelling on a balsa-wood raft, some 8,000 kilometres across the Pacific Ocean from Peruto Raroia, and manned by a six-man team.
His voyage became known as the Kon Tiki Expedition, and his purpose was to prove that Polynesia could be populated from South America.
He told author Per Lillieström, who wrote the 1999 book No Boundaries: “I travelled on the reed boat with a crew of all races, partly to show my contempt for racism.”
Despite encountering a lot of opposition, his theory turned out to be right. And wrong!
Heyerdahl documented his epic journey in a book – one of 20 he wrote, which were all published in 50 languages – and he won his Oscar in 1951 for his film Kon Tiki, made the previous year about his voyage.
Incredibly, 61 years later, in 2012, another film, also called Kon Tiki, was made about the same expedition.
Now, it has been nominated for an Oscar at next month’s Academy Awards, for Best Foreign Language film, and has already been sold to 50 countries.
Heyerdahl, an ethnologist (the branch of anthropology which deals with the origin, distribution, and characteristics of human racial groups), was born on 6th October 1914 in Larvik.
He died at the age of 87 in 2002 in Italy, where he was on holiday with family friends, having spent his last years in Tenerife.
Hadia Tajik Norway’s Minister of Culture, said: “It will be exciting to follow the Oscar ceremony on 24th February.”
The film, released in Norwegian cinemas last August, sold 164,191 tickets the first weekend, having previously beaten all records for a film premiere in that country.
It is the most expensive documentary ever made in Norway, and it faces stiff competition from Amour, No and A Royal Affair, the other nominations in the Best Foreign Language Film class
Tenerife residents in the northern town of Guïmar will almost certainly be familiar with Heyerdahl because he lived there from 1994 and actually developed the Pyramid Park, which is regarded as one of the major landmarks on the Island.
It was, and still is, a fascinating exhibition, showing how he took advantage of several disciplines across the divide between science and social science.
Thor used to take daily trips to the Pyramid Park from the orange orchard, where he settled with his third wife.
Thor, also known as an archaeologist, biologist, anthropologist, ethnographer and zoologist, studied biology at the University of Oslo, doing his fieldwork in anthropology.
Curiously, he did not like to be called an adventurer, since he maintained his sole purpose was research.
But for the story of his epic expedition to gain another Oscar, 20 years after his death, would surely be the adventure to end all adventures!
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/heyerdahl-sets-sail-oscar/)