Exploring migrant experience with playful sensibility

A must-see exhibition, Ini Mini Mani Mou opens on Saturday 8 March at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetū.

It’s been developed by mould-breaking contemporary artist John Vea (Tonga, Aotearoa New Zealand), a lecturer in sculpture at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts.

Working across sculpture, installation, video and performance, Vea uses a playful sensibility to bring visibility to some of the issues affecting Pacific migrants to Aotearoa, says curator Chloe Cull.

John Vea's new works reference the layers of bureaucracy many Pacific peoples encounter when engaging with New Zealand’s immigration processes.

“These new works, commissioned by the Gallery, invite the audience into an immersive experience that references the layers of bureaucracy many Pacific peoples encounter when engaging with Aotearoa New Zealand’s immigration processes.”

Vea contrasts the idealised ‘dream’ of migrating to Aotearoa with the institutional environments and rigmarole of paperwork that must be navigated to achieve it. 

“As the audience enters the exhibition space, they’ll interact with a gamified installation that alludes to these challenges. The Aotearoa New Zealand passport is represented as the ultimate prize, yet always remains just out of reach,” Cull says.

“Vea makes art that Pacific audiences can relate to, but his work also offers opportunities for others to gain insight into the struggle many people go through to live and work in Aotearoa.

“While he frames the issue in an engaging way, the questions he poses are confronting. Does the dream stack up with reality? Vea’s use of participatory elements throughout Ini Mini Mani Mou enables the audience to connect with the sense of frustration.”

A moving-image work reveals some of the racial and cultural stereotypes and prejudices held by many New Zealanders.

“Vea’s art exposes the unfairness of the system and demands more transparency. But we want to do more than just highlight the problem, so one of the public programmes we will be offering during this exhibition, in partnership with the Citizens Advice Bureau, is a free workshop on visa and residency application processes. People can book in to get help if this is something they’re working through personally,” Cull says.

“We’re excited to open this exhibition and see people respond to the work. It’s thought-provoking and should spark some interesting, and important, discussions.”

John Vea: Ini Mini Mani Mou opens on Saturday 8 March with a free artist talk at 1pm and closes on 13 July 2025.

Main image of artist John Vea, and secondary image courtesy of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.