Irihipeti Waretini

Bio Statement

Irihipeti Waretini is a multidisciplinary community artist and performer nurtured by the people and culture of Naarm.

Her creative practices are vast and prioritise collective learning, healing, justice, and the redistribution of resources. She creates and curates living archives at the intersection of kinship, spirituality, Indigenous sovereignty, and mental health using taonga pūoro, visual art and performance ritual.

A cultural commuity development practitioner who weaves multi-dimensional stories, Irihipeti’s work over the past decade spans digital and live performance art, embodied education, Indigenous futurisms, and communal wellbeing experiences across the Kulin Nations, Te Whenua Moemoea, Aotearoa, and global digital spaces.

Her achievements include 2025 Time Out Best Exhibition Award for Māreikura: Ka rere te rongoā, as Creative Director for the 2023 sold out 5 show season of Te Pō and 2022 Finalist, SBS Emerging Writers Anthology Between Two Worlds Hardie Grant Publishing.

She has performed at Liveworks Festival, Melbourne Fringe, Footscray Community Arts, and Melbourne Museum and has been commissioned for Immigration Museum, Arts House and Tempo Festival NZ.