New expressions _{by Isabella Smith}

Mitchell Manuel, a Kuki Airani, Māori, Scottish, Tahitian, and Portuguese digital artist has journeyed into his own whakapapa to explore the convergence of Pasifika and Scottish Highland histories. His exhibition Tartan Meets Koru is now on display at Toi Pōneke Arts Centre until the 17^th of April.

The resonant and symmetrical works feel immediately familiar, drawing from visual symbols of Scottish tartans, Māori koru patterns, and Cook Islands Tivaevae. It is the positioning of these traditional images, and the reimagining of them onto a new plane that interrogates the complex shared histories between these cultures, shaped by displacement, resilience, and deep ties to land and language.

An estimated one million New Zealanders claim this intertwined whakapapa. Behind the images sits extensive research into Scottish Clearances (1750-1860) and the Battle of Culloden (1746), revealing a profound diaspora, carrying Gaelic ancestry deep into the Pacific. Conversations with people who share similar roots provided further meaning and depth to the artworks.  

Manuel employs digital vector programmes to weave tartan threads and clan colours, then integrates koru to create a mathematically accurate fusion where each element respects the integrity of both cultures.

Digital mediums are a fluid space to breathe “new life into traditional imagery while honouring the stories embedded in them”, he tells me. “As these layered histories of Gaelic and Pasifika ancestry find new expression, AI offers a compelling lens.”

“Exploring how AI can amplify Indigenous voices rather than diminish them [is] a timely discussion in Aotearoa.” On the 11^th of April, Manuel will be in conversation with Te Awanui Reeder (Nesian Mystik) to explore these themes and how they extend more broadly into music and the arts.

On the 28^th of March, Manuel will also host a whānau-friendly workshop, guiding you through transforming a simple pen drawing into a digitised porowhita – a Māori mandala woven with tartan.