Background
Katrina Iosia Sipeli (Tagata Niue, Liku/Mutalau) is a multi award-winning Niuean artist and prominent figure in augmented and extended realities whose practice bridges material culture, sculpture, and creative technologies. In 2025 she was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Pacific Artist Residency in Niue — a partnership between Creative New Zealand and the Government of Niue — and spent seven weeks on the island using 3D scanning and modelling to archive coral reef landscapes and cultural landmarks that cannot be physically moved.
Working under unreliable connectivity conditions, Sipeli developed a methodology for capturing place-based cultural knowledge in digital form, framing the resulting 3D assets as a "living archive" — a repository able to transmit cultural knowledge to diaspora communities and future generations regardless of geography.
The Exhibition
Materiality of Time opened on 18 April 2026 at the Māngere Arts Centre | Ngā Tohu o Uenuku in South Auckland and runs free of charge until 31 May 2026. The exhibition is co-created with Allen Vili (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Saleimoa, Sāmoa), a multidisciplinary digital artist with over 25 years of experience in immersive media. Vili's contributions explore the Matariki star cluster as a foundation for digital identity and cultural continuity; he is recognised for VR activations exhibited internationally. The exhibition was selected as a featured event for TechweekNZ 2026, with an artist talk and ethics-in-design panel scheduled during Techweek week in May.
AR Virtual Try-On
A centrepiece of the visitor experience is an AR virtual try-on, allowing gallery visitors to see themselves on screen appearing to wear 3D-sculpted digital garments and forms inspired by Niuean cultural material. The concept was first proposed in 2019 and earned Sipeli a nomination for an AR fashion design award in the United States in 2022. Sipeli holds ambassador status for Snap Spectacles AR-powered glasses and has been an official creator within the Snapchat Lens Network programme since 2020; her AR practice spans face and body-tracking based experiences incorporating digital versions of Niuean coral and reef forms.
Sculptural installations and augmented reality function together as living archives in the exhibition, with AI also employed for digital preservation (per the TechweekNZ event description).
Cultural Intent and Heritage Preservation
Sipeli describes the work as a vessel for sustaining cultural knowledge across generations. Her practice is grounded in a philosophy of cultural ethics in design: she developed her digital skills largely through self-directed learning, applying strict principles around respecting the cultural value of artefacts. Her stated aim is to inspire young Pacific creatives to claim digital tools for themselves.
The exhibition holds personal significance for both artists: Vili grew up in Māngere and Sipeli's family is from Ōtara, making the South Auckland venue a return to the community that shaped them. Sipeli has previously exhibited in Paris and Vancouver and received the 2023 Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Award.
