Zakea Page is a New Zealand filmmaker, multidisciplinary artist, and designer. His work—ranging from exhibitions and street art to large-scale public installations—has been showcased across New Zealand, the United States, Canada, China, Thailand, Switzerland, France, and the United Kingdom. He has been a finalist in the Wellington Regional Arts Review (2018) and a three-time finalist for the New Zealand National Youth Art Awards. He also received the Festival Golden Special Mention to the Artist at the Arte Non Stop – International Film & Art Festival in Buenos Aires.

 

Zakea has exhibited extensively in Shanghai, China, participating in group exhibitions such as Spiral Narrative in a Klein Bottle at Shanghai International Studies University and Life, Death, Transition at Tong ji University. His solo exhibitions in Shanghai include Tenacious with Studio White in 2017 and Benevolence in 2019. Zakea directed Malformation Capital, a short film exhibited as part of the 2018 Asian Aotearoa Arts Hui—a national public festival celebrating diverse expressions of ‘Asianness’ in New Zealand’s arts landscape.

 

 

Zakea has performed at major international events including the China International Import Expo, the halftime show of the 2017 FIH Women’s Hockey World League Final in Auckland, and the World Championships of Performing Arts in Los Angeles.

 

In 2019, Zakea won the International Olympic Committee’s global design competition for the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games medals, becoming the first New Zealander to design an Olympic medal. He also performed a live painting of the medal design during the Games' opening ceremony, becoming the only person in Olympic history to have designed an Olympic medal and performed at an Olympic Games Opening Ceremony at any edition of the Games.

 

Zakea wrote and directed his debut short documentary, Ink and Gold – An Artist’s Journey to Olympic Glory, which chronicles the lead-up to his Olympic performance. The film was selected for over 80 international film festivals and won more than 70 awards globally, including the FICTS Olympic Storytellers Award in Milan and the Mention d’Honneur Best Film Award at the Nagano FICTS International Film Festival. It received an Oscar-qualifying theatrical release at the Lumière Cinema in Beverly Hills, becoming the only New Zealand short film selected for the 96th Academy Awards.

 

Zakea is one of only eight individuals globally to have both performed at an Olympic Games Opening or Closing Ceremony and qualified for an Academy Award—alongside renowned artists such as Bryan Adams, John Legend, Sir Paul McCartney, Björk, Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, and tennis player Naomi Osaka.

 

Zakea has recently exhibited his work for the first time at two venues in England. His first exhibition, The Big 'Little' Exhibition in Bath, was dedicated to raising funds for refugees, with a focus on women and children affected by domestic violence. He was also featured in Shades of Red at Fox Yard Studios in Suffolk, followed by a solo exhibition, Palimpsest, also in Bath. Zakea was commissioned to create a commemorative portrait of the President of the Edgbaston Hockey Club in Birmingham, along with artwork featured at the club’s annual awards dinner.

 

He has contributed his expertise as a judge for several international design and film competitions. Most notably, he served on the judging panel for the International Olympic Committee’s Global Medal Design Competition for the Gangwon 2024 Youth Olympic Games, working alongside an Olympian, an IOC Young Leader, and youth representatives from Gangwon. He was also part of the judging panel for the 2024 International Online Web Fest.

 

Passionate about arts education and creative engagement, Zakea has delivered workshops and artist talks at institutions such as Yew Chung International School in Shanghai, Massey University in New Zealand, the International School of Nagano in Japan, Heart of the Community in the UK, and the Wellington Makers Faire.

 

Coinciding with the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Zakea premiered his solo exhibition Hockey in Motion, which featured a live virtual reality performance. Work from this exhibition was presented as a gift and featured during a retreat for the Board of Directors and CEO of Field Hockey Canada.