Thursday 23 September 2025
London 09.00 | Amsterdam 10:00 | Wellington 20:00

Indigenous-Led Digital Futures

To conclude our series, we are looking ahead. Indigenous designers are weaving together customary knowledge with new technologies, and defining Indigenous-led environments in the virtual realm. As we have seen in the physical domain, Indigenous design offers an alternative to extractive and exploitative systems. To achieve alternatives in digital spaces, Indigenous designers often have to reshape, refine or reimagine western design models, design thinking and design tools.

About the panel

  • Whetu Paitai is CEO of Piki Studios, a small whānau game design and publishing company based in Aotearoa New Zealand. He is also CBO of Craftbench AI - a safe and trusted universal game developments tool for AI generated content.

  • Daniella is an experience designer who blends justice-centred design and systems thinking to help build regenerative futures for people and planet. She approaches problems as manifestations of wider systems rather than isolated events, and uses design research to surface barriers and enablers of change to then translate insights into grounded interventions. Her practice focuses on co-created narratives, decoloniality, Indigenous knowledge, collective futures, and reflective learning.

    Recent work includes talks and workshops on design for social and systemic change; a redesign of the visitor journey at RADIUS Centre for Art & Ecology (Delft, Netherlands); a graduation project with Citizen Voice (TU Delft) on keeping spatial justice present in climate-neutral urban planning; citizen-participation interventions with the Municipality of The Hague; and World Heritage Museum (2050) – a speculative installation exploring how AI bias could reshape cultural narratives of marginalized communities (e.g., Palestine and Latin American Indigenous peoples) in ways that reinforce dominant power.

    She is of Costa Rican and Dutch heritage and is currently based in The Hague.

  • Carolina is an artist and researcher who studies matter as culture. An example of such research is how a sensory interface connects people to technology and myths. She reflects on the relationship between technology, culture, and nature to challenge and expand our understanding of ecological systems. Her work crosses a wide range of disciplines, drawing on the humanities, sensory studies, and indigenous knowledge. She worked for two years with traditional artists who are also politically engaged Indigenous community leaders, convinced that Indigenous knowledge can help us face persistent global and social problems. She experimented using backstrap weaving (a Peruvian textile technique), clothing, body extensions installations and handlooms. Currently, she is expanding her research, seeking the tactile effect as a powerful sensory medium to scale it up using different techniques.

    Estrada studied at the National School of Fine Arts, Lima, Perú (2014) and has an MA in Textiles at the Royal College of Art, London, UK (2023). Recent shows include:” The disobedient craft” in Design Biennale London (2025), Common Ground, Tilburg Netherlands (2025), 3rd Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art "Boundless Encounters", Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China (2019); "Pallay Pampa: Andean Crossroads", IFA Gallery Berlin (2022); 15th Bienal de la Habana "Shared Horizons" (2024)“Haptic Imagination” solo show, Peruvian British Cultural Center, Lima (2023), “Pallay Pampa: Andean Crossroads”, IFA Gallery Berlin (2022).

About the hosts

  • Director and Strategist for IDIA

    Ko wai au? He uri tenei no Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Tahu, Ngāti Whaoa

    I am an experienced service design, co design and community engagement practitioner who loves working with people to define and achieve their goals. I have over 15 years experience in leading design, leading organisations and their leaders and people through change.

    I have worked in the public sector, alongside NGOs, with community groups, iwi and hapu, I love leading collaborative sessions with a wide range of stakeholders, making sure all people feel seen, heard and safe to participate. One of my favourite things is talking with people about what is important to them, what makes their hearts sing, what they are passionate about and using these insights to create good sustainable change.

  • Lucy is a freelance creative strategist and innovator with a deep passion for culture, design, and systems thinking. Her career spans GLAM institutions, performing arts, service design, and kaupapa Māori design methodologies. She has worked across cultural heritage, innovation strategy, and production management, always weaving together mātauranga Māori, ecosystems logic, and design thinking to drive creative problem-solving.

    From curating exhibitions at the National Library to running innovation programmes at Te Papa’s Mahuki, Lucy thrives at the intersection of people, ideas, and systems. She brings a wealth of experience in stakeholder engagement, qualitative research, and co-design, helping to cultivate spaces where ideas can take root and flourish.

    Recently as Innovation Lead at Te Matarau a Māui, Lucy has been focused on fostering bold, future-focused thinking and creating pathways for Māori-led and Indigenous innovation. She is passionate about designing programmes that empower entrepreneurs, creatives, and communities to explore new possibilities and bring transformative ideas to life.