Indigenous led design:Aotearoa-New Zealand's largest infrastructure project
About this Event
Building more than a railway — building relationships, recognition, and a lasting legacy for Tāmaki Makaurau.
Auckland's City Rail Link is the largest transport infrastructure project in New Zealand history.
CRL – is funded jointly by the Crown (NZ Government) and Auckland Council.
The collaborative co-creation (between crown and Iwi) of the Mana Whenua forum, which consists of representatives from 8 Native iwi/tribes within Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland City working together alongside CRL Alliance - endeavours to bridge a long-standing historical rift between the often-divided factions, whilst providing opportunity to embed and created distinctive designs for CRL stations and outside spaces reflecting the city’s unique cultural history.
Wāhine (2026)
In July 2026, Katz co-created Wāhine, a 3.7-metre silicon bronze sculpture unveiled outside Auckland's new Te Waihorotiu City Rail Link station on Victoria Street West, working alongside weaver Beronia Scott (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei). The work depicts a Māori woman performing a karanga — the traditional call of welcome — and stands on a 600mm basalt plinth, greeting travellers as they emerge from the station. Contrasting patina finishes distinguish the figure's body, hair, hei tiki, kawakawa leaves, and korowai, with the cloak's woven texture drawn from Scott;s expertise in raranga.
Blessed by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei at a dawn ceremony before its public unveiling, Wāhine was conceived by Maihi as a contemporary counterpart to Molly Macalister's 1960s sculpture A Māori Figure in a Kaitaka Cloak on Auckland's waterfront — a work for wāhine of the past, present and future alike. Speaking to RNZ, he described the significance of placing this kind of mahi in the city's most public spaces: “the statue will allow Māori to see themselves in the centre of Auckland... you can say whatever you want, you can take away what you want, but you'll never move us. We're going nowhere, we're here forever.” The sculpture sits alongside Horotiu, a companion bronze eel by Chris Bailey and Sally Smith, as part of a combined $1.38 million public art investment by Auckland Council for the station precinct.
Wāhine adds to his body of public work that already includes Te Ara I Whiti (the Lightpath) in central Auckland, and Te Toki in Parnell Auckland.
Speakers
RANA KIPA
Rana Kipa is the Advocacy and Cultural Lead within Toi Ahunga, with work grounded in his identity as a descendant of Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei. He advocates for outcomes that reflect the values, aspirations, wellbeing, and intergenerational responsibilities of his people, ensuring that cultural leadership is not treated as an addition to major projects, but as a foundation for meaningful and enduring outcomes.
Through his role in the City Rail Link (CRL), Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest infrastructure project, Rana represented Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei on the Mana Whenua Forum, working alongside iwi with interests across the project area. His contribution helped embed Māori cultural narratives, histories, values, and kōrero into the design and delivery of the project, strengthening the relationship between infrastructure, whenua, whakapapa, and public place.
Rana brings a collaborative and values-led approach to leadership, with a focus on partnership, cultural empowerment, and outcomes that honour both present communities and future generations. His conference presentation shares the CRL journey as a story of Kotahitanga, Kaitiakitanga, Manaakitanga, and Mana Motuhake — demonstrating how indigenous knowledge, relationships, and place-based design can shape infrastructure of national significance.
AREKATERA “KATZ” MAIHI
Arekatera Maihi — known widely as Katz — is a master carver (tohunga whakairo), tā moko artist, and designer of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Ngāpuhi descent, with whakapapa also connecting him to Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara, Tainui, and Te Waiohua. Raised in Ōrākei, he grew up watching his uncles carve the whare of his home marae, an early exposure that shaped a lifelong practice moving between whakairo, tā moko, music, and design as different ways of telling the same stories.
He trained at the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI) in Te Puia, Rotorua, from 2003, graduating in 2006, and later returned to serve as Head of Schools there from 2014 to 2019. In 2007, together with his wife Leonie, he established Toitū Design Ltd, bringing their respective practices together under one shared creative vision; the studio has since become a leader in mahi toi, known for expertise, authenticity, and workmanship of the highest standard.
Katz's carving work sits in major public and cultural commissions across Aotearoa. He led the team that carved and designed He Taumata Rau, (University of Auckland) honouring tūpuna of the Tāmaki rohe and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei mana whenua, and the restoration of the wharenui whakairo Te Ao Hou and Taanenuiaarangi (Auckland Univeristy) a nine-month project completed with his team using ancient kauri timber. His moko and carving practice has also carried Māori art onto an international stage, attending international cultural events in South America, the United States of America, and Europe, including his portrait painted by artist Owen Dippie in New York in 2018. His art reinforces the depth and pull of Te Āo Māori (the Māori world): “there's so much power in our culture, especially for the creatives... what the world wants to see is our indigenous art forms, our cultural practices.” As he puts it simply of his craft: “Tā moko and whakairo are our language.”
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