EP 33 - AKILAH MARTINEZ

Akilah, also known as Glittering World Girl, isan artist, technologist, and cultural bearer from the Navajo Nation. Hercreative path began early, watching her grandparents—unilingual Navajospeakers—left with television programming only available in English. Thatmoment sparked her lifelong commitment to create media that honors Indigenousways of life and preserves Native cultures and languages.Her work centers on community-based media,blending modern technology with circular Indigenous-based socialentrepreneurship. Akilah is known for producing Navajo-language videos, radioads, and musical features in Diné bizaad, using creativestorytelling to spark dialogue and strengthen connection across community, art,and technology.Akilah’s artistic practice often explores Indigenousfuturism, weaving Navajo superheroes, traditional foods, and pop-cultureelements into augmented reality (AR) experiences. She holds a BFA in Studio Artfrom the University of New Mexico with a focus in electronic and emerging XRtechnologies. Her interactive oscillator shoes were showcased at FATE Biennial2013. She later spent five years living primarily on the Navajo reservationworking in language-preservation media.In 2019, Akilah received an Immersive Technology Fellowshipwith XR company Crux, splitting time between New York City and Los Angeles tolearn from leading XR creators. She went on to graduate at the top of aCultivating Coders cohort and, in 2022, earned funding from The Andy WarholFoundation / 516 ARTS Fulcrum Fund for her third AR project.Akilah’s guiding belief:“We are part of Creator, therefore we were given the ability to create…Through imagination and the ability to select from infinite potential, we’reable to externalize abundance and create new realities for our people.”Project – Natives In TechAkilah’s LIFT project, Natives In Tech, is aseries of AR environments redefining how contemporary Indigenous art shows upin museums, galleries, and entertainment spaces. Built for Indigenous socialmedia users and young creators, the project offers a playful, culturally richdigital interface that lets users Indigenize their surroundings in real time.