Henri Hiro (1 January 1944 - 10 March 1990) was a poet, playwright and film director from French Polynesia. He was a pioneer of Polynesian poetry and theatre.
Hiro was born on the island of Moorea. He studied theology in Montpellier and returned to Tahiti in 1972, but was not ordained a priest.[1] According to his vision he came from a colonized society and wanted to return to traditional Polynesian values, and he worked to promote the Tahitian language, as well as his own culture and identity.[2]
Hiro was also involved in the defense of the environment. He was one of the promoters of the association Ia ora te natura, and a leader of opposition to French nuclear testing.[3] In 1975, he joined Jacqui Drollet and Turo Raapoto to found Ia Mana Te Nunaa ("Power to the People"), a radical pro-independence party opposed to nuclear testing.[4]
In 1979 he made his first film, Le Château, together with Jean L'Hôte. It deals with the loss of identity among young people in Tahiti. In Marae, 1983, he recreated a traditional royal enthronement ceremony. Te ora, which Hiro made with Bruno Tetaria in 1988, is a song to Polynesian nature, presenting fifteen species of trees to children.[1] He also published two collections of poetry in Tahitian and mounted theatrical shows in which he integrated polyphonic songs, dances or traditional recitations.[5]
Hiro died in Huahine on 10 March 1990.[6]
Collège Henri Hiro in Faʻaʻā is named in his honour. In 2017 a poetry competition for school students was established in his honour.[7]
On the 20th anniversary of his death in 2010 the Maison de la Culture in Papeete held a series of exhibitions and film screenings.[8] [9] On the 30th anniversary of his death in 2020 the Artistic Conservatory of French Polynesia held a series of poetry readings and unveiled a commemorative plaque.[10]