Asian in Aotearoa

Rounding out this run of episodes, writer Xue Li Zhang and filmmaker/community builder Kiran Patel talk through the messy, generous work of showing up for each other and the everyday act of building spaces where people can feel seen.

About Xue Li:
Xue Li Zhang is a writer born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau, working across poetry, theatre, prose and journalism, with family roots in Fujian, China. She was editor of The Pantograph Punch and co-manager of Te Kāhui Creative Writing, and co-wrote the play Yang/Young/杨, staged at Basement Theatre. She's currently working on her debut novel.

➡️ Te Kāhui Creative Writing: tekaahuicreativewriting.org/about-1

About Kiran:
Kiran Patel is a third-culture kid — born in Aotearoa, raised in the Netherlands, with Indian heritage — and a community builder and filmmaker based in Auckland. He founded creative space MoveSpace in 2018 and created the storytelling card game Deeper Questions. He's currently behind Humans Are Awesome, a video portrait series spotlighting people making their corner of the world more awesome.

➡️ Follow Humans Are Awesome on Instagram: https://instagram.com/humansareawesome.films
➡️ Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/watch?v=flO39u3ma9M

Follow Asian in Aotearoa on Instagram: https://instagram.com/asianinaotearoa
Visit https://asianinaotearoa.com

This episode was made possible thanks to Foundation North and Creative New Zealand.

Visual artist Sahana Rahman and artist-producer Sananda Chatterjee catch up for a conversation rooted in South Asian craft, community and storytelling. They discuss embroidery traditions passed down generations through to the doing-word that real community actually is.

About Sahana:
Sahana Rahman is a visual artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau whose practice incorporates embroidery, painting, drawing and community activation, drawing on South Asian styles including Mughal miniature painting and shisha embroidery. Born and raised in Te Whanganui-a-Tara into a cross-cultural Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan Tamil home, she now runs communal embroidery workshops around the country. Her work explores decolonial practice and multicultural identity.
➡️ Follow Sahana on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannyszn/

About Sananda:
Sananda Chatterjee (Sandy to mates) is an artist of Bengali heritage, born in Kolkata and raised between Delhi and Tāmaki Makaurau. A multidisciplinary artist and producer, her work spans large ensemble theatre with Prayas Theatre to intimate projects exploring gender, relationships and belonging. She also works as a producer, mentor and Cultural Insights specialist.
➡️ Follow Sananda on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bangalee_as_bro/

About the podcast:
Asian in Aotearoa is a podcast of conversations of Asian creatives, founded in 2020 by Jenna Wee in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.
Follow Asian in Aotearoa on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asianinaotearoa/
Visit asianinaotearoa.com
This episode was made possible thanks to Foundation North and Creative New Zealand.

Two multidisciplinary artists who do amazing things on stage, come together - actor, producer and writer Márianne Infante, and dance artist and choreographer Xin Ji. Their conversation moves between new motherhood, migration, making a lifetime of art without burning out, creativity and spirituality.
About Márianne:
Márianne Infante is a multidisciplinary creative of Kapampángan heritage — a trained actor, producer, writer, director and mover — born and raised in Pampanga, the Philippines, before moving to Aotearoa at 11. She's Executive Director of PAT, co-founder and director of Te & Kuya Collaborative and a board member of Equity NZ. Her mahi centres storytelling that uplifts Indigenous and immigrant voices.
➡️ Follow Márianne on Instagram: https://instagram.com/marianne_infante
➡️ Márianne on Satellites: https://satellites.co.nz/archive/people/marianne-infante
About Xin:
Xin Ji is a dance artist, choreographer, performer, filmmaker and educator based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Trained in Chinese Classical Ballet in Beijing before a professional career in Japan and Aotearoa, he has worked with companies including The New Zealand Dance Company, Footnote and Okareka. His debut solo work Body Story premiered at the Auckland Pride Festival in 2025.
➡️ Follow Xin on Instagram: https://instagram.com/xin_with_ji
➡️ Xin on Satellites: https://satellites.co.nz/archive/people/xin-ji
Follow Asian in Aotearoa on Instagram: https://instagram.com/asianinaotearoa
Visit https://asianinaotearoa.com
This episode was made possible thanks to Foundation North and Creative New Zealand.

This episode brings choreographer Cindy Yunha Jang and visual artist Tarika Sabherwal together. They chat about Cindy's work building belonging through movement and Tarika's exploration of inherited South Asian mythology and more.

About Cindy:
Cindy is a 1.5-generation Korean choreographer and community arts advocate based in Aotearoa, creating immersive, multidisciplinary works that centre diaspora narratives. In 2017 she founded Jang Huddle and her practice is an ongoing conversation between her past and future selves.
➡️ Follow Cindy on Instagram: https://instagram.com/janghuddle
➡️ Cindy on Satellites: satellites.co.nz/archive/people/cindy-jang-barlow

About Tarika:
Tarika Sabherwal is an artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau who narrativises personal relationships and landscapes within a South Asian mythological framework. Working against image saturation and historical revisionism, she unpacks inherited narratives by collating memories, pop culture, mythology and superstition.
➡️ Tarika's exhibition, Glyphs: galleryske.com/exhibitions/glyphs
➡️ Follow Tarika on Instagram: https://instagram.com/tarikasab

Follow Asian in Aotearoa on Instagram: https://instagram.com/asianinaotearoa
Visit https://asianinaotearoa.com
This episode was made possible thanks to Foundation North and Creative New Zealand.

Weimin and J.Y discuss friendship, community and why the most meaningful creative work often begins with making space for others.
About Weimin:
Weimin Li is a Tāmaki Makaurau-based tattoo artist and founder of NiceGoblins, an artist platform he launched in 2018 to create community and opportunities for emerging creatives in Auckland. Born in China and raised in Aotearoa from the age of eight, Weimin studied Video Game Design before finding his way into tattooing.
➡️ Explore NiceGoblins: https://www.nicegoblins.com
➡️ Follow NiceGoblins: https://www.instagram.com/nicegoblins_collective
➡️ Follow Weimin: https://www.instagram.com/nicegoblins_wei

About J.Y:
J.Y. is a legendary saxophonist/flautist who has spent more than a decade performing across Aotearoa's music scene. He has shared stages with artists including Tom Scott, CHAII, Sir Dave Dobbyn and Romi Wrights, and performed with groups including Yoko-Zuna, The Circling Sun, DAYBUS Jazz Orchestra and Avantdale Bowling Club.
➡️ Follow JY on IG: https://www.instagram.com/jaywhyl33/

About the podcast:
Asian in Aotearoa is a podcast of conversations with Asian creatives, founded in 2020 by Jenna Wee in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.
Follow Asian in Aotearoa on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asianinaotearoa/
Visit asianinaotearoa.com
This episode was made possible thanks to Foundation North and Creative New Zealand.