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Juan Francisco Salazar


Visual Anthropologist  |  Filmmaker








Interviewer: Courtney Boag
Images: Provided by Professor Juan Francisco Salazar
Cinematography: Stéphanie Austruy

31 September, 2024





“I don’t think we’re prepared to know what we’re doing if we find life in Mars, are we prepared to deal with the consequences? Conflict on Earth for resources is the same. All this exploration — and the ethical dilemmas we face as a result — do not happen in space as if they are in a vaccum. These issues are completely related to the conflict we see on Earth.”


Juan Francisco Salazar












Juan Francisco Salazar is an interdisciplinary researcher, author, and documentary filmmaker originally from Santiago, Chile, now based in Sydney. His work explores the intersection of social and ecological change, emphasising collaboration across arts, sciences, and activism. As an Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2020–2024), he leads a project on critical social studies of outer space, extending his decade-long research on Antarctica, including the Antarctic Cities project and co-founding the Antarctic Youth Coalition.

Juan has collaborated on participatory projects in Australia, Chile, Colombia, and Vanuatu, partnering with organisations such as the Australian Museum, the Powerhouse Museum, and INACH. His films, including Nightfall on Gaia and The Bamboo Bridge, have been featured at major festivals and venues worldwide, such as the Serpentine Galleries, Vision du Réel, and the Biennale of Sydney.

A member of editorial boards for several academic journals, Juan’s writing has appeared in The Sydney Review of Books, The Conversation, and New Matilda.





























Interested to learn more about Juan’s research? Follow his work here. 


Learn about Juan’s key research projects, the Antarctic Cities and the Global Commons project and Australia a spacefaring nation: Imaginaries of space futures.

Check out some of Juan’s award winning films,  including Nightfall on Gaia and The Bamboo Bridge and his upcoming film Cosmographies.
 

Follow Juan via @juanfranciscosalazar


Anthrōprospective is Australia’s first independent anthropology journal of it’s kind. Based in Naarm (Melbourne).

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