John Pule’s new exhibition of paintings on canvas and paper runs at Jonathan Smart Gallery until Friday 7 October. Titled Aukia/Waiting, it tracks Pule’s recent travels between Liku (in Niue), Suva and Tamaki Makaurau. Meeting, waiting, returning – these are themes of lives across the Pacific – a pattern of migration Pule has long recognised as deeply rooted within Pasifika. The nets that capture, the land that tethers and the plants that sustain – these are the visual bedrock of the current show.

John Pule is one of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s pre-eminent Pasifika artists. He is well-known as a writer. His art is held in public and private collections throughout Aotearoa, in Australia and increasingly in Europe.