CIRCUIT Matariki Commission 2026: Anahera Totoro

Thanks to everyone who applied to be CIRCUIT’s 2026 Matariki Artist. We are delighted to announce the successful applicant is Anahera Totoro (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou).

Anahera is a multidisciplinary artist from West Auckland currently living in Pōneke. She graduated from Victoria University of Wellington in 2024 with a Bachelor's degree in Social Innovation Design and Māori Studies. Her work is centred around te taiao and the whakapapa links between people and whenua.

She currently works as a designer for Native Land Digital and she worked with WeAll Aotearoa in 2025 on their Future Generations "Tomorrow Together" campaign. She is also a DJ, her most recent performance being at Matakanarama, a New Years Festival north of Auckland.

Curated by CIRCUIT’s Kaitiaki Kiriata Tanya Ruka and supported by CIRCUIT and Wellington City Council, CIRCUIT's 2026 Matariki presentation responds to the 2026 Matariki theme, Matariki herenga waka – For Everyone.

Matariki herenga waka, literally “binding or mooring the waka together,” speaks to unity, shared journeys, and the weaving together of many pathways without requiring them to become the same.

The commissioned work will be presented on Masons Screen for six weeks, from 9 June to 21 July 2026. Masons Screen is a public art project supported by Wellington City Council and programmed by CIRCUIT. Located on Masons Steps between Courtenay Place and The Terrace, the screen sits midway between nodes of transport, shopping, government, and business. Thousands of commuters pass by every week.

This year, Masons Screen becomes a liminal space, a threshold – a gateway - where past, present, and future meet, and where daily life flows into the realm of the stars. Subtle traces linger like ripples through time. Artists are invited to explore Matariki as a portal into interwoven realms of ancestors, stars, and memory. Where hidden stories emerge. This is a time for dreaming the impossible, offering a chance to glimpse new stories of being within the flow of everyday life.