Dr Naomi Faik-Simet is currently the Assistant Director – Dance at the Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies, a government cultural research institute under the National Cultural Commission. Naomi has extensively researched and published on Papua New Guinea’s indigenous dance forms. Her research currently focuses on indigenous dance pedagogical systems that are embedded in diverse and complex knowledge systems in Papua New Guinea communities. In her PhD thesis, Naomi explored Buai as a pedagogical knowledge system for teaching and learning creativity amongst the Tolai people of East New Britain. She hopes to pursue similar studies on dance, pedagogy and creativity that draws on Papua New Guinea’s rich and diverse intangible cultural heritage.
Naomi has a Bachelor in Arts, majoring in Theatre Arts, and Bachelor of Arts in Honors (Literature), University of Papua New Guinea. She also has a PhD in Dance Studies from the University of Auckland.
