As part of TechweekNZ 2026, join artists and creative technologists Katrina Iosia and Allen Vili for a special exhibition tracing a lineage of creative practice from physical to digital mediums.

Materiality of Time is a contemporary exhibition centered on creative technological mediums as both methodology and material. Grounded in cultural narratives, land-based research, and lived experience, the works explore how time takes form across physical and digital environments. Some works 'stem from Iosia's Pacific Artist Residency in Niue, a partnership between Creative New Zealand and the Government of Niue'. The exhibition also reflects Vili’s longstanding explorations of Matariki as a foundation of his work, identity, and continuity. Sculptural installations and augmented reality function as living archives, positioning technology as a vessel for preserving material culture and sustaining knowledge across generations.

TECHWEEK26 EVENTS:

EXHIBITION OPENS - Saturday 18th April - Saturday 31st May 2026
ARTIST TALK - Katrina Iosia Sipeli & Allen Vili
TANGATA MOANA - Ethics in Design
https://www.sharks.com.au/news/2025/05/28/sharks-unveil-inaugural-pasifika-jersey/

Katrina Iosia - Tagata Niue – Liku / Mutalau

Is a multi award-winning Niue artist and a prominent figure in augmented and extended realities. Her multidisciplinary practice bridges material culture, sculpture, and creative technologies, exploring how digital environments can preserve, activate, and evolve Indigenous knowledge systems.

Iosia’s work investigates Niue's coral landscapes, material memory, identity, and culture through immersive and interactive experiences. She has led significant digital initiatives, with AR activations with exhibitions internationally and across Aotearoa. She has been recognised as an ambassador for Spectacles AR powered glasses and an official creator within the Snapchat Lens Network programme 2020. Some of the work in the exhibition ‘stemmed from her Pacific Artist Residency in Niue, a partnership between Creative New Zealand and the Government of Niue.’

Her practice reflects a broader philosophical lineage of digital innovation — a material culture of adaptability — positioning technology as both tool and taonga.

https://katrinaiosia.com/

Allen Vili / Onesian - Māori / Samoan – Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Saleimoa Samoa

A multidisciplinary digital artist and creative technologist with over 25 years of experience across digital design and immersive media. His practice bridges Indigenous storytelling with creative technologies, exploring digital environments and real-time experience.

He is known for his earlier works of beautiful portraits depicting the stars of Matariki. A pioneering artist working in virtual reality activations exhibited internationally. Allen creates immersive spaces that reimagine cultural narratives. He continues to challenge and push the boundaries of digital space where he expands on the endless possibilities that narrates his stories. Allen further employs the re-imagined 3D landscapes sculpted into digital spaces, exploring real time experiences that provoke enriching conversations.

Hosted at Māngere Arts Centre

mangereartscentre@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

09 262 5789

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