Daniel Belton and Good Company Arts presented a group of projects at World Stage Design (WSD) 2025 in Sharjah, UAE, during October 2025. Our works were celebrated by audiences and festival attendees - it was very moving to witness artists, students and established companies from Mexico, Brazil, Finland, Cyprus, Egypt, China, Korea, Taiwan, Romania, Canada, UK, Australia and UAE reaching out to us to express how much they resonated with the work.
Pepe & Pōtaka Nautilus were honoured in the 'Video Projection & Design' category with a Bronze Award during the closing ceremony. This is an acknowledgement of the creative efforts from our dedicated team across both projects - dance-kanikani arts, taonga pūoro, raranga weaving craft, digital arts and design collectively continue to touch the hearts and minds of people who experience these artworks - especially when they involve live activations and interactive installations. We delivered AV livesets of Pōtaka Nautilus & Pepe, also TIGER & DRAGON with composer-musician Mark de Clive-Lowe and taonga pūoro artist Mahina Kingi-Kaui joining Daniel Belton onstage in performance with our large format live keyed film projections at the Sharjah Performing Arts Academy’s Mainstage Theatre.
Our interactive exhibitions of Pepe & Pōtaka Nautilus and Ad Parnassum — Purapurawhetū engaged festival goers with immersive VR, raranga weaving craft from Kahu Collective, 3D printed objects, 2D dance-art film, electronic sound design, classical string quartet, taonga pūoro recordings and instruments, alongside bespoke object ‘Airstruments’ that invited excited public to touch, listen, look and move with various elements of our multi-modal artworks.
“Your projects are joint explorations of the boundaries of matter - what is pursued is freedom. They are poetic, elegant works that transmit an ancient vitality” WSD Artist-Designer Xiao Chen (China)
"I have heard a lot about your work over the years, but now I have discovered it for myself. And it really broke apart something for me because as a designer I have been quite resistant to the recorded image up until I saw your work. Something about the way in which you have created your work has opened up and expanded the language of recorded dance and music, and visuals. It's like entering a work of art, and I really wanted to thank you so much for the incredible work that you have created and that Daniel has brought to Sharjah for us to see, thank you" WSD Designer Imogen Ross - Sustainability Manager National Institute of Dramatic Art (Australia)
"I would like to thank you for the incredible performances we have attended. We are really happy to have had you here in World Stage Design. It was really amazing, and it's really a pleasure. Thank you so much" Wafa Ashour WSD Jury Coordinator (UAE)
“I really appreciate this wonderful wonderful work - it’s absolutely profound, essential in some way - mystic. It’s beautiful, and I see the Gods” Gloria Carrasco Altamirano - Designer, WSD Exhibition Jury (Mexico)
“On behalf of the World Stage Design 2025 (WSD25) organising committee I want to express our deepest gratitude and heartfelt congratulations for your extraordinary contribution to the festival in Sharjah. We also deeply appreciate the remarkable breadth and ambition of the work your team delivered, especially given the limited number of artists and resources involved. Your ability to create such expansive, high-quality, and multidimensional experiences with a compact ensemble is not only artistically impressive but also aligned with our commitment to a respnsible carbon legacy. Your approach exemplifies how world-class, impactful design can be achieved through the thoughtful use of resources and sustainable practices. Thank you, Daniel, and everyone at Good Company Arts, for bringing your vision, your craft, and your spirit to World Stage Design 2025. Your work exemplifies exactly the kind of boundary-pushing, cross-cultural, deeply human design practice that WSD seeks to celebrate. We are honoured to have had you with us and look forward to future collaborations” WSD Project Director Jacqui George (UK-UAE)
Supported by Massey University, director Daniel Belton presented his lecture-dem "Ad Parnassum — Purapurawhetū: Choreographing Cultural Convergence Through Digital Space - as part of WSD’s ‘Scenofest Talks’ to an enthusiastic and appreciative audience. Good Company Arts also presented live events within ‘Sound Kitchen’ (SK25) during our week at the festival. We sustainably landed five projects from our repertoire, reaching thousands of people - flying with two compact travel cases.
Kā mihi nui Mahina Kingi-Kaui, Mark de Clive-Lowe, and Stuart Foster for supporting Daniel Belton in the highly successful delivery of Good Company Arts projects at World Stage Design 2025. Big thanks to creative producer Donnine Harrison and digital artist Jac Grenfell for their long-distance support from Aotearoa at this time. Thank you festival staff, Jacqui George, Ambika Rajgopal and the WSD team, Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, SPAA students, and all our amazing collaborating artists whose voices shine through these projects. Ngā mihi maioha Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts Massey University, Creative New Zealand toi Aotearoa, our whānau and friends - we could not have done this without your incredible support.
"Mā te whiritahi, ka whakatutuki ai ngā pūmanawa ā tāngata. Together weaving the realisation of potential"
