We often put art and science in separate camps, but what happens when they are allowed to mingle? Join us for this illuminating kōrero with trailblazing ArtSci practitioners who transform their curiosity into both expression and exploration, grounding us in a deep sense of wonder and rooting us in the beauty, mystery and interconnectedness of the world around us.

Afterwards, join us for a late night opening of the ArtScience Exhibition to see these ideas in action.

Pay what you can afford: recommended $15, but choose your own price!

Introducing our panel:

Gianna Savoie

Dr. Gianna Savoie is an award-winning documentary producer/writer, science communicator, and National Geographic Explorer with two decades of experience in Science and Natural History filmmaking and a knack for powerful storytelling that has led her to sink her teeth into some of the most critical conservation issues on the planet. Her Emmy-nominated work has been featured on National Geographic, PBS, NATURE, Discovery, and the BBC, as well as in theatrical documentaries and in print and web publications. 

 In 2015, Gianna founded the Ocean Media Institute, a non-profit global media collective that engages the public in ocean science and conservation through innovative, inclusive media and artistic approaches to ocean literacy. And in her quest to “pay it forward” and inspire the next generation of environmental storytellers, she teaches and mentors emerging filmmakers and science communicators.

Sione Faletau

Sione Faletau (b. 1991) is an interdisciplinary artist of Tongan descent from the villages of Taunga (Vava‘u) and Lakepa (Tongatapu), based in Ōtara, South Auckland. His practice spans soundscape, video, projection, performance, drawing, sculpture, and installation, grounded in Tongan concepts such as fonua (land, people, womb) and ongo (sound, feeling).

Faletau holds a Doctor of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, where his research explored Tongan masculinity from an Indigenous perspective through Talanoa methodology. His work translates sound into kupesi, transforming audio waveforms into visual pattern systems. He has exhibited both nationally and internationally, with a practice centred on cultural identity and environmental relationships.

Sione's involvement in the NZISF is made possible thanks to the valuable support of Te Pūnaha Matatini.

Pam MacKinlay

Pam McKinlay (Tangata Tiriti) is an artist-curator and convenor of the Art+Science Project in Ōtepoti Dunedin. Her practice explores relationships between people, place and the more-than-human world in shaping collective memory. Working across art, science and community contexts, she develops place-based projects that explore climate change and biodiversity, connecting curiosity, knowledge, care  and collective action. 

 Specifically this month  -- I'm currently in the final stages of the Art+Science Project - theme for 2026 is "time" which spun out of the last project "Memory and Mind" - so I'm thinking about genealogies of space-time as a way of thinking across scales that connect cosmic, ecological and our human histories. Also the latest wave of colonisation happening on our galactic frontier.

Elle Gilchrist

Elle Gilchrist is completing a PhD at Kā Rakahau o te Ao Tūroa Centre for Sustainability Research at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka University of Otago exploring social arts practice and community engagement in climate change adaptation. Elle's current research focuses on sense of agency and understanding experiences of climate change. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Marine Biology and a Master's in Human Ecology. Her most recent projects involved understanding human-ocean relationships in a fishing town in the Yucatán and arts-based coastal heritage research on Rakiura Stewart Island. 

Aidan Geraghty

Aidan (Ngāi Tahu Whānui) is a multi-disciplinary rikatoi completing a MFA at the Dunedin School of Art. Aidan’s mahi explores ideas of bicultural heritage, visualising through contemporary media the sense of displacement felt by many generations of Tākata Whenua. He belongs to several overlapping communities of artists championing education, collectivism and Kāi Tahutaka. A commonality that threads Aidan’s practice across the plethora of communities is the pātai “What are the tools we want to develop with and leave for our mokopuna?”.

 In unpacking this pātai Aidan identies alternative means as to which tākata Māori can access their pēpeha, whakapapa and Mārae spaces through contemporary means, such as Mahi Toi and Te Taiao. Disconnection from whakapapa and whenua is a serious issue, especially for hauora, and is something Aidan is passionate about finding ways as to begin mending.