Ariana Tikao is a musician, composer, and writer whose work relates to her Kāi Tahu identity and mana wahine. She was honoured as an Arts Laureate in 2020 for her contribution to Māori music and leadership in the field of taonga puoro. She has performed as a singer and taonga puoro soloist with leading chamber music groups and orchestras throughout New Zealand, and co-composed the first concerto for taonga puoro Ko te Tātai Whetū with Phil Brownlee in 2015. She has recently been collaborating with screen composer Karl Steven on a number of film and television projects, and her music has regularly featured in dance, theatre, and online media.

Ariana is also a poet and author, with an MA in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters, and she is the current Ursula Bethell Writer in Residence at the University of Canterbury. Her book Mokorua: Ngā kōrero mō tōku moko kauae: My story of moko kauae, co-authored with photographer Matt Calman, was published by Auckland University Press in November 2022, and her poetry book Te Rā: The Māori Sail, illustrated by Mat Tait, was recently published by the Christchurch Art Gallery.